A Vampire's Brothers
by MaskedPyro
Summary: Many thought they died. But they didn't. Instead they were turned into a vampire and humanoid wolf. Forced into hiding, their little brother died thinking he would finally get to see them again. Hundreds of years later, they find him again with little to no differences. AceLu! Rated T for language and violence. (First chap has mentions of rape so rating might change)
1. Stalker or Guardian Angel?

Chapter 1: Stalker or Guardian Angel?

**(Hey guyz~! So I know I should be updating ****Brother's Returned**** and ****Memories of the Past**** but… Both of those stories are great examples of bad ideas. How? I'll tell you. The ideas are good but the plot… Let's just say, I have no way of ending those stories. I don't know how. **

**Recently, I've been wanting to read/write either some supernatural (Ace being a vamp kind of thing but nobody updates those), something with Luffy actually being serious, or some AceLu. So here's my first vamp fanfic. Would say my first AceLu, but I have a huge plot that just needs to be divided up and put into more detail. Also, for future notice, I have 15 stories that are just ideas or plots and then three others being this, Brother's Returned, and Memories of the Past. Those are only for One Piece also. Counting DGM, I have another three at least. How about I get to the story? On to the crap!)**

He had been walking silently on the rooftops, not a single sound coming from his black combat boots. The sun had vanished beyond the horizon an hour prior allowing him to hide his presence and not be seen. In the dark of night, the only part of him that could be seen were either his orange cowboy hat or his pale complexion, but even those went unseen. For this, he was glad. At this point, he honestly didn't understand why he was glad. He knew for a fact that he wouldn't be noticed.

For two years, he had been going down this path. He knew how many steps he should take on each building before jumping soundlessly onto the next building. He knew who lived in which house and even the daily routines of those people. Especially one in particular.

The boy that he had found the most interesting would wake up at the very crack of dawn, take a shower, then go to school. Some days, the boy would sleep in class, which would result in him begging his friends for the notes they took. Other days, he would pay attention and be able to answer anything thrown at him. But he always noticed one thing about the boy that amused him most. The boys love for history and adventure stories. After school, the boy would usually go to the little hole-in-the-wall burger shack down the street with his friends. For about an hour, they would laugh and tell jokes until they all had to go their separate ways. He had to admit, he was curious where the others went but was more interested in the boy.

On his way home, the boy would always smile causing everyone to have the same expression and greet him. After the first month, he had realized the boy knew everybody and vise-versa. After getting a few treats from the baker and a few samples from the sidewalk vendor, the boy would finally get to his apartment where he lived alone. He knew the boy would get lonely from time to time but he wouldn't show himself. Not yet.

After the boy would get home, he would relax and take a nap. When he woke from his nap, he would go straight to his homework and studying. Much to popular disbelief, the boy would spend hours working. He may have appeared to be a genius, but that didn't mean he could remember everything.

By the time the boy would get home, he was too tired to think which caused his daily naps. When he would finally gather all his homework and notes, he'd stare at them with confusion, every once-in-a-while asking himself how he understood any of it earlier. After hours of working, the boy would finally finish before heating up the samples he got from the sidewalk vendor along with his left overs from the burger shack. After eating his limited amount of food, he'd fall asleep in his bed, not even bothering to change clothes or even get under the covers.

Some would consider this stalking, no most would, but he didn't. He considered himself a guardian angel for the boy. There would be days where the boy would be so out of it that he'd leave everything out and even leave the lights on, sometimes even falling asleep on the couch in his living room. While the boy was asleep, he would silently enter through the balcony and organize everything, putting the notes and homework where they belonged, turning off lights, cleaning up whatever trash there was, and even putting the boy to bed.

This wasn't some random boy. This was a boy he knew very well. This was his little brother. This was Luffy. It was, and yet it wasn't. The boy technically wasn't a boy. He was seventeen years old and a junior in Goa High School. He looked almost exactly like Luffy, the only physical differences were the fact that he didn't have Luffy's scars and he wasn't rubber. Education-wise, this boy was smarter than Luffy, yes, but emotionally, and maybe even mentally, they were the exact same.

Few things differed the two. But he knew. He knew they were different people. The fact that it had been hundreds of years since he saw his brother's death was one of the main things that stopped him from tackling the boy into a hug.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt something flick his forehead shortly followed by a familiar voice. "Hello? Anyone in there? Earth to Ace! Yoo-hoo!" He blinked for a few moments while rubbing his forehead. It hadn't hurt but it was still a simple habit he couldn't lose. It made him feel like a human again.

He looked around and realized he was outside the boy's apartment before looking at the source of the familiar voice with slight annoyance. "Don't do that." He simply muttered.

"Don't do what? This-" the blonde asked before flicking Ace in the same spot. "Or saying 'Yoo-hoo'?"

Ace sighed before taking in his company's appearance. He had on a white dress shirt which was partially covered by a black vest with golden buttons. He noticed the white dress shirt was tucked into a pair of loose white pants which were then tucked into black boots. He couldn't help but notice him wearing his same old top hat with his usual blue goggles over the band. Staring at the goggles, he couldn't help but wonder if the blonde had ever actually worn them over his eyes. They were always around his neck or on the top hat.

"What?" The blonde asked after noticing Ace was staring at his attire.

"Really?" Ace questioned.

"What's wrong with it?" The blonde asked defensively.

"First of all, you do know we're on rooftops, right? Rooftops that are covered in dirt." Ace stated.

"Yeah, and?" The blonde pressed on.

"Why are you wearing white?" Ace asked, getting straight to the point.

"It looks good!" The blonde stated, a small lisp escaping past his missing tooth.

"Whatever. Also, why do you insist on wearing clothes that stand out? You know as well as I do that we'll be killed if we ever get caught before we choose to show ourselves." Ace questioned.

"Oh like black shorts, black boots, no shirt, a green dagger, and an orange cowboy hat is much better?" The blonde retorted.

Ace sat silently for a moment, staring at his long-time companion and traveling partner before squinting his glowing obsidian orbs. "Touché."

"So why were you spacing out?" The blonde asked.

"I wasn't spacing out." Ace defended, turning to the window and watching the young raven scratch his head with a pen before writing down his answers.

"Alright. Then how about, not paying attention? In your own world? In another world? Lost in thought? Thinking about something other than the present?" The blonde listed.

"Sabo." Ace growled under his breath. "Stop."

"Aw~! Is the puppy mad~?" Sabo teased.

"I'm not the puppy here." Ace said with a smirk while turning to the blonde.

"Ouch. Low blow, man. Low blow." Sabo said before his light grey tail curled around his waist, allowing him to pet it.

"Could you stop that? It gets weird." Ace asked, watching his brother pet his own tail.

"And?" Sabo questioned with a chuckle while petting his tail as if he were an evil villain petting their cat.

"Stop." Ace said with a smile while looking away.

"But seriously, what were you thinking about?" Sabo asked, his fluffy tail falling behind him.

"The past." Ace said simply.

"I'm going to need a better explanation." Sabo stated.

"When we were younger and when we would hang out with Lu all the time. How we became brothers. All that stuff." Ace said with a sad smile as he looked at the rooftop beneath his feet.

"Oh… I know what you're thinking Ace, but we couldn't let him live this life." Sabo said sadly.

"So it's better to make him think we died!? He was seventeen Sabo! Seventeen! He spent a majority of his life thinking we were dead and that he was the only one left! If he didn't have his crew with him, he would have gone insane!" Ace argued.

"If he didn't have his crew with him, we would have shown ourselves!" Sabo shouted before letting out a sigh. "Ace… Do you honestly want to see him go through the same pain as us? You starve yourself because you don't want to harm innocents and I have to stay in the shadows. Knowing him, he'd be in pain every day or constantly being captured because he's too social. Ace this would have been torture for him."

"But at least he'd be here with us and not a skeleton in the ground." Ace muttered, looking back to the streets.

Sabo sighed again before looking at the boy who seemed to be working on a very complex problem. "How much longer until we can show ourselves?"

"What?" Ace asked quietly, looking at his blonde brother.

"It's your choice. We can show ourselves whenever you want. Last time was my call and we know how that ended." Sabo whispered sadly.

Ace stared at the blonde for a few moments before looking back to the raven who seemed to have finally figured out the problem. "Soon. I don't want to just… appear in his life. I want it to be almost natural."

"I understand. We'll wait for the right moment." Sabo said before smiling slightly at the thought of his older brother actually thinking.

-x-x-x-

A week had passed since Ace and Sabo's conversation and in all honesty, today seemed off. Ace knew Luffy didn't have a definite routine. It wasn't one of those 'be here for exactly an hour then leave' schedules but it was definitely odd. Instead of being at the burger shack for an hour, Luffy had been there for three and on his way home, he had to take the long way due to construction. Luffy was still walking home when the sun had set and neither Ace nor Sabo liked it.

The street Luffy was forced to take ended up having a lot of low buildings, forcing Ace and Sabo to keep at a distance. With such a distance between them, they couldn't fully watch over the younger raven which caused them to worry more. They knew what went bump in the night, being creatures of the night themselves, but they had never been in this area at night so they had no clue if anything dangerous was around. Their senses were spread far in an attempt to watch over Luffy more carefully.

At some point, Luffy had gotten himself lost and let out a sigh of frustration. "Oh come on! This the third dead-end in the past ten minutes!"

"Hm? Now who's this adorable little thing?" A voice said from the shadows.

"W-what?" Luffy questioned.

"He looks like a new toy for ya, boss." Another voice said from another part of the shadows.

Luffy could hear someone licking their lips. "You're right. I actually like this one. Looks much better than the last kid we found." A third voice said, sounding as if they were grinning.

"What are ya gonna do, boss?" A fourth voice asked.

"Maybe give 'im the '_special_' treatment?" A fifth voice asked.

Luffy was scared, no he was terrified. These voices sounded like they were surrounding him and he felt like there were more people but they weren't saying anything. Hoping for an escape and a way to avoid the so-called '_special treatment_', he started backing up only to back himself into a corner, literally.

A voice laughed. "'e's just makin' it easia fo' ya, boss!" A new voice shouted causing a roar of laughter.

Luffy was right. There were far more than just those six people. There were ten at the very least. '_Someone… Help me…!_' Luffy thought to himself as he felt the owners of the voices come closer to him.

Soon, a fat man had appeared in the small light that came from a lamp post a few feet away. The man had tanned skin and a messy black beard along with old torn clothing, missing teeth, and a nearly bald head. Luffy didn't like the looks of this man and tried to move further away only to press himself further into the corner of two brick walls.

He kept his eyes on the fat man who looked to be the boss. He saw other people immerge from the shadows, all of them grinning at him as if he were some kind of prize. With each person that showed their ugly and beaten face, Luffy got more worried. Within a matter of seconds, there were easily fifteen people. Half of the lackeys faces might as well have had the words '_Gang bang_' on them. The other half looking as if they ready to murder him in the worst ways possible. The boss looking ready to do both.

"So what first?" The fat man questioned slowly, an evil grin crossing his features.

"Cut 'im up!" A lackey yelled.

"No! Give 'im somethin' good first!" Another lackey shouted.

"Yeah! Fuck the poor bastard!" A group of lackeys shouted before cheering.

"If you insist." The boss said with a smirk before stepping closer to Luffy.

Luffy watched the boss with panicked eyes. He knew all means of escape were blocked off by the gang so the only thing left was to fight or give in and he wasn't about to be raped then killed. But, if he tried to fight, then he'd be killed as well. Then he chose. '_I'd rather go down fighting. Huh. Never thought I'd say it for real… Weird._'

Luffy was pulled from his thoughts when he felt large hands grab his wrists and pin them above his head. He looked at the man holding him and saw it was the boss. His eyes widened at the fact that it was now too late to even try a real escape.

Soon the boss had started unbuttoning Luffy's shirt, showing his tanned and toned chest, causing a few of the closer lackeys to whistle. The boss leaned forward and kissed Luffy's neck, biting it hard enough to leave a mark and draw a little bit of blood causing Luffy to wince. Slowly, the boss left more marks along Luffy's left shoulder and chest after the shirt was fully taken off and on the floor.

While trying to ignore how disgusting this was, Luffy realized the man had left himself wide open. Quickly, and with much force, Luffy kneed the man in the stomach causing him to cripple over slightly and lose some strength. Sadly, he never lost his grip on Luffy.

"That ain't nice ya brat." The fat man growled while pulling out a knife. "Now, you're gonna let me do what I want to ya or else I might hafta damage that nice body o' yours more."

"More…?" Luffy questioned quietly.

The fat man grinned from ear to ear as he quickly lifted the pocket knife to Luffy's face and stabbed him just below the left eye. Luffy tried not to scream as any movement from his cheeks had caused the blade to scratch his cheek bone, causing more pain. The boss, finding this amusing, chose to move the knife around and even push it in deeper. After a few seconds of this, Luffy couldn't hold it back any long and let out a loud scream when the man stabbed further.

The boss took the knife out of Luffy's cheek and licked the blood off the blade as he watched hot liquids, both clear and a beautiful crimson, stream down the boy's face. The look of sheer pain and terror aroused the man.

Just as the boss was about to undo the button on Luffy's denim shorts, a growling voice interrupted him. "Just what the _hell _do you think you're doing to him!?"

The boss, and all his lackeys, turned to look at the source of the voice but saw nothing. Not even an outline of a figure was to be seen. Soon enough, every lackey had a weapon out, ranging from a crowbar to a pocket knife to a pistol. "Show yourself you coward!" A lackey yelled.

"Coward? Is that what you called me?" The voice scoffed. "I'm more of a man than you'll ever be. Oh and, you suggest I show myself, how about you come to me?"

"Excuse me?" The boss nearly growled.

"Let go of the boy _now _and I'll leave you with a _slight _chance at living." The voice said, echoing off the walls confusing the gang members of its origin.

"If you're so tough, why don't you come get him?" The boss said before turning to face the rest of the alley, pulling Luffy in front of him, pulling the boy's hands behind his back, and holding his knife to the boy's neck.

"Don't you _fucking _dare harm him further! I was going to kick your asses for just troubling him, but now I'm _really _pissed!" The voice growled.

"Tell me who ya are before I get rid of my toy." The boss ordered.

"You can call me 'Fire Fist'. You aren't good enough to know my name." The voice, Fire Fist, said, anger still evident in his tone along with annoyance.

"Fire Fist? As in the pirate from hundreds of years ago? Ya make me laugh! Ya know what? I don't care anymore! You're just some piece o' shit who thinks he can do anything if he sounds cool right?" The boss said with a smirk.

"You wanna test that out?" Fire Fist questioned and, for a split second, a spark of fire could be seen.

"Come out and we will!" The boss yelled in annoyance.

"Tsk tsk tsk. And you've returned to the first argument." Two voices said in unison, one belonging to Fire Fist while the other was unknown.

"Oi. '_Fire Fist_'. I've got Lu. You can get the rest." The new voice echoed quietly, followed by a light chuckle due to the old name.

"Sounds good to me." Fire Fist said while sounding as if he were smirking. Within seconds, the alley was filled with screams of pain, shooting, swinging, stabbing, and even sucking and hissing.

The boss was shocked. What the hell was happening to his men? It was only two men, wasn't it? Hell it was only one man! Why did it sound like they were dying and maybe even eaten!? Suddenly, his train of thought was cut off when he felt something around his neck. Slowly he looked and saw an arm, covered by a white dress shirt sleeve wrapped round his neck.

"How does it feel to have something at _your _neck now? Not fun, right?" The owner of the second voice whispered into the boss' ear from behind.

"What are you-?" The boss attempted to question only to be stopped when his neck was broken, killing him instantly.

"To answer your question, you don't want to know." The second voice owner said before taking the knife out of the boss' still, somehow, clenched hand and dropping him. "Tch. Can't even get a good knife. What's with thugs these days?"

"W-who are you…? Y-you aren't like them… Are you…?" Luffy questioned with fear as he rubbed his wrists.

"Of course not. I'm Sabo, and the one calling himself '_Fire Fist_' is Ace." Sabo said with a kind and trusting yet small smile as he slowly walked to Luffy and checked his wounds. "These are pretty bad. We should get you home to clean you up. But… Your cheek is gonna need stitches. Any other wounds he gave you?"

"N-no…" Luffy muttered.

"Good. Now how about you put on your shirt before Ace sees those and mutilates that man's corpse?" Sabo suggested, pointing at the bite marks on Luffy's neck.

Luffy reached a hand up to his neck and winced when he touched the still fresh wounds. Slowly and carefully, never taking his eyes off of Sabo, he grabbed his shirt and put it back on. By the time he was done buttoning up his shirt, the screams and other background sounds were gone.

"So? How'd it go?" Sabo asked, turning towards the shadows with a smirk.

"They tasted like shit. Worse than any murder, rapist, thief, or pirate could ever be. I didn't think someone's blood could taste so rancid!" Ace said as he walked out of the shadows, wiping a drop of blood off the corner of his mouth.

"T-thank you… For helping me, that is." Luffy thanked.

"Dude… No." Sabo said simply as he turned back to Luffy, confusing the boy.

"What?" Luffy questioned.

"We knew a guy who… Looked almost exactly like you. Let's just say, he was an idiot and it's really weird to see you all nice, polite, and all that." Ace said with a playful smile and matching chuckle.

"Oh… Then um… Can you help me get home? I live in the apartments on the corner of-"

"We know." Sabo said, cutting off Luffy.

"What…?" Luffy muttered, getting nervous again.

"Don't worry. We're only hear to help. We know more about you than you think. But it's only to protect you." Ace stated sadly.

"What do you mean?" Luffy questioned.

"We had a little brother who looked exactly like you. We watched him die and couldn't do anything. When we saw you, we decided to make it up to him and to protect you. Think of us as stalkers. Think of us as Guardian Angels. Think of us as brothers. I honestly don't care what you claim us to be." Ace said with a sad and small smile.

Luffy looked at the two for a while before smiling. "Ace-" he said while pointing towards said raven before pointing at the blonde next to him "and Sabo, right?"

"Correct." Sabo said with a smile.

"Cool. I trust you guys. I don't know why but I feel like I should." Luffy said with a smile before swaying only to be caught by Ace.

"Relax. We'll get you home and cleaned up. You'll be up and runnin' in no time flat." Ace said with a small smirk.

Luffy stared at Ace for a few moments before nodding slightly. Luffy was surprised with how easily Ace had picked him up. He was strong but gentle at the same time. Luffy couldn't help but think of how weird that was, almost as weird as the fact that Ace wasn't wearing a shirt. Soon enough, Luffy's thoughts washed away as he unconsciously snuggled closer to the warmth that was Ace before falling asleep in the older raven's arms.

**(Aaaaaand there's chapter one! Not how I originally planned but hey, still good enough. I actually have nothing to say other than this. Fave, follow, read my other stuff, and review! Bai~! c(X )**

**Start Time – 5:30 P.M.**

**End Time – 12:30 A.M.**


	2. Introductions and Explanations

Chapter 2: Introductions and Explanations

**(Hey guyz~! So I chose to update again. Why not, ya know? On to the crap!)**

**Warning: This chapter has not been checked for errors. This will not be fixed unless pointed out. Enjoy.**

-x-x-x-

_Previously:_

"_Cool. I trust you guys. I don't know why but I feel like I should." Luffy said with a smile before swaying only to be caught by Ace._

"_Relax. We'll get you home and cleaned up. You'll be up and runnin' in no time flat." Ace said with a small smirk._

_Luffy stared at Ace for a few moments before nodding slightly. Luffy was surprised with how easily Ace had picked him up. He was strong but gentle at the same time. Luffy couldn't help but think of how weird that was, almost as weird as the fact that Ace wasn't wearing a shirt. Soon enough, Luffy's thoughts washed away as he unconsciously snuggled closer to the warmth that was Ace before falling asleep in the older raven's arms._

-x-x-x-

Luffy woke up the next day, later than usual. He sat up in his plush bed and remembered his strange dream. He remembered being cornered in an alley then attacked by thugs but then saved by a noble looking blonde and a shirtless raven-haired man. The names 'Ace' and 'Sabo' coming to mind when imagining his two saviors. He couldn't stop the smile that slowly grew across his face.

Suddenly a sharp pain shot through the left side of his face causing him to wince. Instinctually, his hand raised to his left cheek causing slightly more pain. Once the pain subsided, he remembered the nightmare part of his dream. '_It… Was a dream… Right?_' Luffy thought to himself while looking for anything that would show his reflection. Soon enough, he found a glass of water sitting on the oak desk that sat across from his bed.

Luffy stood from his bed and walked over to the desk noticing all of his homework and notes were in neat stacks; one stack for notes and the other being homework. Luffy looked through the papers quickly and saw all of his homework was already completed but didn't remember doing any of it. Remembering the reason for going to his desk, he picked up the glass of water and looked at his left cheek. His eyes widened slightly and he ran to his bathroom just down the hall.

Luffy stared wide eyed at his reflection, particularly the stitches on his left cheek. Slowly, and with some fear, he pulled on the collar of his shirt, allowing the marks on his shoulder and neck to be seen. Unconsciously, Luffy moved to touch the marks, hoping his mirror was just playing tricks on him. The raven winced when his cold finger tips touched the painful marks that covered his smooth skin.

"It wasn't a dream…" Luffy muttered under his breath.

The only thing stopping him from panicking was the memory of how it all ended. Nothing worse than those disgusting bites and stab to his face had happened to him. Then there were his so-called 'Guardian Angels' who had killed the men that attacked him. '_Wait. If that attack was real then… Does that mean they are too?_' Luffy silently questioned before the smell of bacon and sausage reached his nose.

Luffy walked out of his bathroom and towards his kitchen as silently as possible. Someone was in his house and he was about to find out who. For a moment, he thought it was the same guys as the night before but that thought was quickly washed away when he remembered their screams of horror and agony. He didn't know what that Ace guy had done but part of him was curious while the other part didn't want to know.

As soon as he got to the entrance of his living room, he saw his television on and someone sitting on his couch. He could see an arm laying on the back of his couch and boots on an arm of the couch. He could see a tattoo on the tanned arm and tilted his head to read it. He noticed it said 'ASCE' but with the 'S' crossed out. '_Did they mess up? No, they would have removed it I'm sure. So it's like that on purpose?_' Luffy silently thought.

Getting rid of the 'mistake', Luffy smiled slightly at the tattoo. It read 'Ace' meaning one of his saviors was there, the second most likely making the breakfast he was smelling. Without noticing, Luffy had calmed down and wasn't trying to sneak around anymore. Still choosing to stay silent though, Luffy walked into the kitchen and found he was correct.

Sabo was silently, and happily, making breakfast for himself and the two ravens. Quickly, he moved the perfectly cooked bacon and sausages onto a plate he had set out before moving the scrambled eggs and nearly golden hash-browns so he could make some toast as well.

Silently, Luffy watched Sabo run around the small kitchen before realizing he never got a good look at the blonde last night. Now that they were in the light, Luffy could see him clearly.

Sabo had wavy blonde hair that went just above his shoulder, sea blue eyes that seemed to glow slightly, and a burn scar that ran from his left jaw and over his left eye. He was wearing an old black top hat with worn blue goggles on it, a white dress shirt which was loosely tucked into black dress pants, and black boots which were somewhat covered by the pants.

After a few moments, Sabo noticed Luffy and smiled. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Could be better. My cheek hurts a lot but, other than that, I'm pretty good." Luffy said with a small smile. "Thanks again."

"It was nothing. Also, I figured you'd be in pain so I went looking for pain killers. When I couldn't find any, I went and bought some." Sabo stated before picking up a bottle from the counter and opening it. "How bad is the pain?"

"Pretty bad but not enough to complain too much." Luffy said simply.

"Okay, how 'bout this; on a scale from one to ten, how bad?" Sabo asked with an amused smirk.

"Hm… Maybe a seven?" Luffy muttered in thought.

"Not enough to complain, huh?" Sabo questioned with a chuckle as he tilted the bottle and let two pills fall out. "Here. Take these with some water. Breakfast will be ready soon, mind telling Ace?"

"Alright." Luffy said taking the pills and swallowing them dry.

"Oh, and tell him he owes me ten bucks." Sabo said, flipping the bread so it didn't burn.

"Sure, but why?" Luffy asked curiously.

"We made a bet last night. I said you would wake up before him while he disagreed. Whoever wins gets ten bucks. I won." Sabo said simply as if it were common.

"Um… Okay?" Luffy said quietly before walking back into the living room and over to the couch. The closer he got to the couch, the more he could see of Ace. He noticed the man wasn't wearing a shirt but definitely had the muscles to allow it. He wore black short with a teal bag strapped to his left thigh, black combat boots, an elbow guard on his left arm, a red and white stripped bracelet on each wrist, a red bead necklace, and an orange cowboy hat in his right hand which was hanging off the couch.

Luffy looked at Ace's face and noticed the childish freckles that covered his cheeks. Looking at his face all together, Luffy was slightly frightened. Ace looked so calm and peaceful; he looked almost dead. Luffy nervously reached over to touch Ace's shoulder so he could shake him awake. "Ace… You have to wake up. Breakfast is almost ready. Ace?"

When Luffy touched Ace's shoulder, he pulled his hand back immediately with wide and panicked eyes. '_He's ice cold!_ _But… H-how!? Even if he did die in his sleep, he shouldn't be this cold this soon!_' Luffy thought to himself in complete panic.

Luffy was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a groan. "Five more minutes." Luffy's eyes shot open – he didn't remember closing them – and looked at Ace. Luffy's pupils quivered as he silently begged for the older raven to move or something.

Luffy's wish was granted when Ace rolled onto his side to get more comfortable, nearly falling onto the floor. Luffy let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and calmed down. "Five more minutes and breakfast will be gone. Also, you owe Sabo ten bucks." Luffy said with a small smile.

"What!?" Ace shouted as he tried to sit up but instead fell onto the floor.

Luffy had to cover his mouth so that he wouldn't laugh at the way Ace had landed. Ace's face was pressed against the floor while his butt was in the air. After a few moments, Ace rolled onto his back and looked up at Luffy before smiling. "Morning Lu."

"'Lu'?" Luffy questioned after his giggles faded.

"Yeah. It's a nickname. Don't like it?" Ace asked as he slowly sat back up and leaned against the couch.

"I don't get it." Luffy said bluntly.

"It's a shorter version of your name." Ace said simply with a shrug.

"But-" Luffy started but stopped himself. '_What does he think my name is?_' Luffy thought to himself but then remembered something Ace had said last night.

"_We had a little brother who looked exactly like you. We watched him die and couldn't do anything. When we saw you, we decided to make it up to him and to protect you."_

'_Oh yeah… Their brother's name must have been Lu. Lu… Sounds nothing like Annry but I guess I could go with it._' Luffy thought to himself with a small smile.

"You alright?" Ace asks, tilting his head curiously.

"Hm? Oh yeah! Just… thinking about the nickname. I like it." Luffy says happily and somewhat nervously.

"Cool! Now how about we eat? I'm hungry." Ace said with a smile as he got to his feet.

"Sure." Luffy said with a smile before running to the kitchen. When he got there, he saw Ace already sitting in one of the chairs at the table. Luffy looked at Ace then the couch then Ace again. He was more than confused. Wasn't Ace behind him?

"What's wrong, Lu?" Sabo asked as he put the plates on the table.

"H-how…? You were behind me. How'd you get here so fast?" Luffy asked as he sat next to Ace, not hearing Sabo.

"I'm fast?" Ace tried to answer but it came out as more of a question.

"You're weird, you know that?" Luffy states while looking at Ace. "First you appear out of nowhere last night, saying you're supposedly my guardian angels, then, after killing all those guys, you say their blood was horrid. I wake up this morning and see you asleep on my couch – looking like a corpse I might add – and when I go to wake you, your skin is ice cold! Now all of a sudden you're appearing in a completely different room?"

"And you." Luffy continues, looking at Sabo now. "You appeared out of nowhere last night saying the same thing. And when you killed that guy, he asked what you are and you said 'you don't wanna know'. What's up with that? Now you're in my kitchen randomly cooking all my food? Plus, what's with the noble outfit? There is _nothing _in this town that you need to dress like that for."

Ace and Sabo were both left staring at Luffy with wide eyes. The boy had been so calm and happy a moment ago and yet now he was just throwing out questions. They didn't know what to say or which question to answer first. They both looked at each other and realized they were thinking the same thing; tell him everything.

Ace sighed and looked at Luffy with a completely serious face. "Lu… We aren't exactly what you think we are. I know I told you we might as well be your guardian angels but… We're far from being angels."

"What do you mean?" Luffy questions, taking an instinctive step back.

"We've been alive for hundreds of years, way back into the Great Pirate Era. We were separately attacked. We were meant to be pawns. A beginning of war. I'm sure you've heard the stories about how vampires and wolves used to be at war? Well… Two 'men' found us and intended for us to fight, and even kill each other, so that there would be war. They hadn't counted on us being brothers and definitely didn't predict us being the ones to end centuries of hatred. But during all of this… Our little brother got involved without know and was killed. Only a few days later, the feud had ended… Mostly due to our blind rage though…" Sabo explained, trailing off into his memories towards the end.

"What 'blind rage'?" Luffy asked quietly.

"As soon as we found out he had been killed, we went after the ones who did it. We killed the ones in charge – since they were the ones who had done it – and every high ranking creature. We couldn't protect our little brother, our treasure. So like I said before. When we saw you, we made a vow to protect you at all costs. Even if it means dying for real and going to Hell." Ace informed, finishing up Sabo's speech.

Luffy was silent at he stared at the two men in front of him. "I was wrong." He finally said. "You guys aren't weird. You're bat shit insane. Do you really expect me to believe you're some pirates turned vampire and werewolf?"

"I really don't like that term…" Sabo muttered as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Like I give a damn! That's not the point! You want me to trust you and yet you're lying to me and treating me like a child? Screw this. I don't want to see either of you ever again. Scratch that. I don't want you within a ten mile radius of me!" Luffy yelled as he turned the other way and started to go to his room.

Ace and Sabo were shocked. They didn't know what to do. They had never seen Luffy – the original or this one – so angry before. Suddenly, it dawned on them. Luffy had left the room and didn't want them around. Both quickly stood and ran to Luffy's room, hoping to stop him and calm him down. "Luffy! Wait!" They both yelled in panic as soon as they saw said boy opening his bedroom door.

Luffy turned to them angrily. "That's not even my name, you assholes! My name's Annry for Christ's sake!" He shouted before entering his room and slamming his door shut.

Ace and Sabo were beyond confused. Slowly, they turned their heads towards each other and saw the other was just as confused. They stood there silently in shock for a few minutes before the first words were finally spoken.

"Did he just say…?" Ace questioned quietly.

"His name's Annry… And we've been calling him 'Luffy' this whole time…" Sabo whispered.

"He really is different… I should have seen it sooner…" Ace muttered as he slowly walked over to the couch he had used as a bed the night before.

"We knew he would be… Luffy… He was just so rare… It's not possible to find someone else like him… No matter how long we live…" Sabo whispered with a quivering voice as he sat next to Ace and held his head in his hands.

"What have we done…?" Ace muttered under his breath. "The first chance in centuries and we ruin it because we just presume he's the exact same…"

"But he's not. He's different and we need to know that. He's showed us the differences and we've ignored them. We need to pay better attention. Hell, we'll make a list of differences if we have to." Sabo said into his hands, his head never moving.

"But where do we start…?" Ace asked quietly.

Sabo sighed. "I don't know."

-x-x-x-

An hour had passed and Luffy was still sitting on his bed hugging his knees and staring at the wall directly across from him. Part of him had still been angry at the two older men but the other part had already forgiven them. He understood what they had been through. They lost their brother and he lost his family. He couldn't help but think he would do the same if he saw someone who looked like his sister. But that would be impossible. Robin was far too beautiful and could never be copied.

"Robin… Mom…" He whispered into his knees, burying his face more.

He missed his sister. He missed his mother. He even missed his father who had abandoned them all. His mother and sister had been in a car accident with a drunk driver and were killed instantly while the drunk had just barely survived. His father, although never being reported as deceased, had vanished on the face of the Earth years ago. He had been all alone for over two years now and had learned to hide it well. It wasn't hard. Just show everyone a big smile and they stop asking you if you're alright.

He was having that feeling again. Where he felt like his sister would be able to fix anything. He could practically hear her voice. '_They want to help. Let them. Open up for once. It doesn't hurt._' Her voice echoed throughout his mind.

He wanted to cry. He wasn't even sure if that voice was his sister, his mother, or just some random voice. He couldn't remember what they sounded like anymore. He had been strong for too long and just wanted to stop. He wanted to be one of those people that could easily go to his friends, tell them what's wrong, and cry when he felt like he should. But he couldn't. Every time he was about to tell them what was wrong, he'd just smile and say he was fine. Almost every day he did this. Almost every day, he would push somebody away. And now he was doing it again.

Ace and Sabo wanted to help. He knew they did. They made it painfully obvious by watching him every night. Yes he knew. He had seen the orange cowboy hat and white dress shirts on the roofs before, either when walking home or when doing his homework. When he realized they wouldn't attack him – they would have by now if they really wanted to – he started to feel safer. True that's not what you usually say about a stalker but, even though he didn't know them, he felt like they were watching over him instead. And last night proved it.

Suddenly, there was a soft knocking on his door. He knew it was them. But he didn't want to move. He didn't want them to see him like this. He had hidden it ever since he first noticed them and now he was finally able to let it lose. "What?" he questioned, his voice betraying him and speaking instead of staying silent.

"Lu- Annry… We're sorry. We really are. We saw what you looked like and… and we ended up ignoring everything else. You aren't Luffy and we know that. We're sorry we thought you were. You're your own person and we brushed that aside completely. All we're asking, is that you give us a second chance. A chance to start over and to do this correctly. Please, Annry." Ace apologized through the door.

He wiped away the few tears that had slipped out and took a few calming breaths. "Just… No more lying, okay?"

"We would never lie to you. What we said was the truth." Sabo stated sadly.

"Prove it…" He said.

"Are we allowed to come in?" Sabo asked slowly.

He nodded but quickly realized they couldn't see him. "Y-yeah."

Slowly and carefully, the door opened and Ace and Sabo walked in. The three silently stared at each other for a few moments before Sabo decided to get it over with. The blonde slowly reached up and grabbed the brim of his top hat and slowly pulled it off. Once the hat was fully off, two light grey wolf ears slowly rose up before falling slightly making Sabo look like a sad puppy.

Luffy was amazed, his wide eyes proving so. He inched closer to Sabo, who kneeled down at the edge of the bed. He slowly raised his hand to touch one of the ears and found it was softer than it looked. A small smile unknowingly grew as he kept petting the ears. Soon enough, he was scratching behind Sabo's ear causing the blonde to lean into his hand. He couldn't help but giggle but stopped when he saw something moving behind Sabo. He leaned over a little – still scratching behind Sabo's ear – and saw a fluffy light grey tail wagging. He had to cover his mouth and force himself from laughing.

Soon enough, Sabo had moved so that he could hide his blush of embarrassment. When Ace noticed the blush, he couldn't help but laugh. "Aw~! Such a cute puppy!" Sabo turned and glared daggers at Ace, who was completely unaffected. "Dude. You're a puppy. You don't scare me." Ace said with a smirk.

Sabo growled at Ace. The whites of his eyes were now black and his once sea blue iris' were now large and a burning gold. In return, Ace scoffed before he hissed back with the same eyes as Sabo only, instead of gold, they were glowing in a crimson shade along with his fangs being fully shown.

Sabo sighed and closed his eyes. When he reopened them, they were back to their usual glowing sea blue. "Even?" He asked bluntly.

Ace closed his eyes and sighed before chuckling. When he opened his eyes again, they were the glowing obsidian they had been before. "Even." Ace said with a smirk that showed part of a fang as is slowly retracted and into its original size as one of his canines.

"So… You weren't lying…" Luffy muttered in mild shock and awe.

"Of course not. Like what Sabo said, we would never. We don't want to hurt you Annry." Ace said with a small and trusting smile.

Luffy chuckled lightly. "Don't call me that. It sounds weird when you say it. Just call me 'Lu' again."

"Why the sudden change?" Ace asked curiously.

"I realized, after my mom and sister died, every time someone calls me that, it doesn't feel like it belongs to me. Like… the name died with them… But now I have a new family, so I guess it's time for a new name." Luffy said with shut eyes and the biggest smile he could that didn't give him pain.

"Are you alright? Losing both of them must have been hard." Sabo asked sadly.

"I'm fine. Happy even. I have you guys now so I'm not alone anymore." Luffy said, his voice getting watery towards the end.

Suddenly, Luffy felt strong and warm arms wrap around him. He opened his eyes and saw a bare chest. Slowly, Luffy hugged Ace in return and felt a few tears stream down his cheeks. He didn't know why, but he was crying. Crying more than at the funeral even. His grasp on Ace tightened and his cries got louder. All the sadness and loneliness he had from over the years was now leaving him and he couldn't stop it.

After a while, Luffy's sadness was completely gone and so were his tears. The loneliness, however, was still there but just barely. He may have stopped crying, but he still wanted comfort which was why he was still sitting in Ace's lap and leaning against the vampire's chest. He was surprised with how warm he had been now and actually liked the warmth but silently wished there was a soothing heartbeat that would come with it.

"Hey guys…" Luffy eventually got around to speaking, his voice somewhat hoarse due to his crying.

"Yeah?" Ace and Sabo quietly pressed on.

"I want you two to stay here. I want you to stay with me. I don't want to be alone anymore." Luffy whispered.

"Lu… You're never alone. You always had your friends and now you have us." Ace said with a soft smile.

"Yeah but I don't want guys to watch me from the roof anymore." Luffy mumbled, slowly falling back asleep.

"How did you…?" Sabo asked quietly in shock.

"Orange cowboy hat and white dress shirt on a black roof at midnight. Do you really think I'm not gonna notice?" Luffy questioned, slightly offended.

Ace chuckled lightly. "Go to sleep Lu. We'll be here when you wake up."

Luffy nodded before once again falling asleep in Ace's arms.

**(Aaaaaaaand done! With the name 'Annry', I actually searched 'Brazilian Boys Names' on Google. What? I'm not that lazy as to say 'He shall be named Luffy because why the fuck not!' This chapter is mostly for, as you can tell, Ace and Sabo to realize this isn't the Luffy they know and for Luffy to find out more about them. As a side note, I had my mom read the first chapter and her only question was "Why do you say the word 'raven' so much?" For those of you wondering the same, it's because Ace and Luffy's hair is a raven's shade of black in my opinion. I use it mostly because I don't want to say their name a dozen times per paragraph. As usual. Fave, follow, read my other stuff, and review! Bai~! c(X )**

**Start time – 2:30 P.M.**

**End Time – 2:30 A.M.**


	3. Upgrades

Chapter 3: Upgrades

**(Hey guyz~! There was a suggestion to have Sabo be part of the whole romance thing and I started thinking about AceLu and SaLu. It would be AcexLuffy and some SaboxLuffy (maybe one sided) on the side. Or should it be all three? That would be weird… But I'm letting you guys choose. If you want all three, only AceLu, only SaLu, AceLu with SaLu on the side or vise-versa, then tell me in the reviews. I might even make a poll on my page for it. On to the crap!)**

**(Warning: This chapter was not proof read and will most likely have errors. This will not be fixed unless I am told about them. Enjoy.)**

-x-x-x-

_Previously:_

"_Yeah but I don't want guys to watch me from the roof anymore." Luffy mumbled, slowly falling back asleep._

"_How did you…?" Sabo asked quietly in shock._

"_Orange cowboy hat and white dress shirt on a black roof at midnight. Do you really think I'm not gonna notice?" Luffy questioned, slightly offended._

_Ace chuckled lightly. "Go to sleep Lu. We'll be here when you wake up."_

_Luffy nodded before once again falling asleep in Ace's arms._

-x-x-x-

When Luffy woke up, he felt strong arms loosely wrapped around him. He opened his sleep filled eyes and saw a tanned arm laying on his waist. He turned his head, to see behind him, and saw Ace sleeping soundly. A moment later, he heard a soft snore and looked towards the sound only to find Sabo lying on the floor, next to the bed, and using his arm as a pillow.

Silently, Luffy lifted Ace's arm off of him and sat up before looking around his room. Gently, he put Ace's arm down and slowly got out of bed. Realizing how small his room really was, Luffy pouted slightly. He left his room and walked around his apartment, remembering it was supposed to be for only one person.

Luffy smiled when I thought came to him before he walked over to his computer and sat in front of it. He turned it on and waited for it to start up before putting in the password and starting his search. After a half hour, he found something interesting. The apartment next to his was for sale.

'_No wonder it's been so quiet lately._' Luffy thought to himself before looking at the price. It wasn't too high but it wasn't really worth that much. Sighing, he stood from his seat and entered his room, grabbed his red jacket, a black tank top, worn out jeans and black converse before leaving the room without a sound. He quickly got dressed before running out the front door and down the stairs to the main office.

Once there, he told his landlord he wanted to buy the apartment next to his. The landlord looked at him strangely before asking why the boy would wanted to move out of one apartment only to move in to the one next to it. Luffy told him he intended to have both and want permission to combine the two. The landlord was surprised but gave him permission and the key, telling him it was another two thousand beri's a month.

Luffy quickly ran up the stairs again and to the new addition. He unlocked the door and walked in. He looked around and was surprised with how nice it looked. The kitchen was about twice the size of his, the living room was bigger, the bathroom wasn't as cramped and was actually a good size while the two bedrooms were larger as well. He smiled as he pictured the two apartments being connected. He knew the lay out of his home and knew it was a mirror image of this one, but smaller. The two kitchens were separated by a wall and so were the living rooms. He had originally thought of just adding a door to connect them but was now considering the removal of the entire wall.

Luffy closed his eyes and combined the mental images of both kitchens and living rooms. The kitchen would easily be three times the size of his original while the living room was more than double the size. He opened his eyes and grinned, ignoring the pain that came from his cheek.

Happily, Luffy walked out the front door and into his original apartment. He quickly, and almost excitedly, walked into his room only to see Ace and Sabo were in the same positions he had left them. He giggled quietly at that fact before an idea came to mind.

Quietly and carefully, Luffy pulled on his bed sheets, bringing Ace closer to the side where Sabo was sleeping and stopping when he was on the edge. Luffy backed up and tried to figure out how to make his plan work when he remembered the glass of water on his desk. He walked over to the oak desk and grabbed the somewhat cold glass. He slowly walked over to his bed before imagining the scene. Ace would be surprised by the water and fall onto Sabo's tail causing the humanoid wolf to wake up. Luffy held back his giggles and got stepped a little closer to make it easier. Slowly, he lifted the glass above Ace's head before quickly tipping it over and pouring all the water out.

Just as he expected, Ace jumped in surprise and ended up falling off the bed but not how Luffy expected. Ace hadn't landed on Sabo's tail, he landed on Sabo completely. As the sudden weight landed on him, Sabo awoke with a yelp along with a groan of pain. Quickly, Ace got off of Sabo and shook his head to get some of the water off causing Sabo to get wet. "Stop it!" The blonde shouted as he put his hands up to block the drops of water.

Luffy couldn't hold it back anymore. He held his stomach as he burst into laughter, gaining strange looks from Ace and Sabo. Suddenly, the older two figured out what had happened and glared at the boy. Immediately, their glares vanished into surprise. This was the first time they had seen this Luffy laugh with so much happiness. Both of them smiled and ended up laughing as well.

Once all the laughter had calmed down, they were all left smiling like idiots. Then a question came to Sabo's mind. "Hey Lu. Why'd you wake us up like that?"

"I knew it was hard to wake up Ace and I didn't know if it would be hard to wake you up. Also I thought it'd be funny." Luffy said with a smile.

Ace chuckled. "Fair enough. Was there a reason for waking us up?"

"Yup. I need you guys to do something. It's really important and I can't do it." Luffy said with a grin.

"Sure. What is it?" Sabo asked as he stood up and stretched.

"I need you guys to tear down a wall." Luffy stated bluntly.

"A wall?" Ace questioned, believing he didn't hear correctly.

"Yup! A specific wall. Not a random one." Luffy said excitedly.

"We aren't destroying someone's house are we?" Sabo asked.

"Nope. It's actually an improvement." Luffy informed.

"Eh. Why not? I feel like breaking things." Ace said with a shrug as he stood.

Noticing his hair was still pretty wet, Ace sighed. He raised his hand to a part of his hair and slowly pulled his hand down it, some steam coming from where his hand had previously been. Luffy's eyes widened when he saw the steam. "Woah…"

"What?" Ace asked when he saw Luffy's wide eyes.

"Y-your hair. It's steaming!" Luffy said in shock.

"Oh..." Ace muttered before pulling all of his hair back and drying it instantly.

"H-how did…?" Luffy questioned.

"Ever heard of a Devil Fruit?" Sabo asked.

"Y-yeah… But I thought they didn't exist anymore." Luffy said.

"They still exist. They're just really rare now." Ace said with a shrug.

"So… You have one?" Luffy asked.

"Yup." Ace said with a grin as he brought his hand into his line of sight and turned it into fire. "The Mera Mera no Mi. I'm made of fire because of it."

"Cool…" Luffy whispered, unconsciously reaching to touch it. He was shocked further when he had touched the flames but wasn't burned. Slowly, he waved his hand through the flames but never felt the immense heat. Yes it was warm but that was it. Just, warm. "How…?"

"I can control the temperature. Right now, it's at a temperature that allows it to stay alive but won't burn people." Ace explained.

"Awesome…!" Luffy muttered. "Wait does that mean you're the real Fire Fist?"

"Yup. Second Division Commander, Portgas D. Ace." Ace said with a smirk.

"Awesome! You're one of the reasons I love pirates!" Luffy shouted happily.

"What?" Ace asked curiously.

"There were so many pirates that were horrible to everyone. But then there were a few that were actually nice! Like Whitebeard, his commanders, Akagami, the Strawhats, Mad Hatter, and you!" Luffy said with excitement.

"Did you say 'Mad Hatter'?" Sabo asked curiously.

"Yeah! He was awesome! They say he was originally a Revolutionary, Head of Staff even. But then there was a tournament with his deceased brothers Devil Fruit as the prize. He won the tournament but ended up becoming a pirate. He immediately became a Supernova with the highest starting bounty in all of history! Within his first year of being a pirate, he killed Blackbeard and took his position as a Yonko! Fire Fist would have done the same, I'm sure, but was said to have died in Marineford. I guess not." Luffy explained with a large grin.

"Well would you look at that. Someone has a fan." Ace said teasingly as he looked to Sabo who was scratching the back of his head.

"I don't remember it like that." Sabo muttered shyly.

"Then how do you remember it?" Ace questioned as he crossed his arms.

"I think I killed Blackbeard within the first two months?" Sabo said thoughtfully.

"Wait. You're Mad Hatter?" Luffy asked with wide eyes.

Dramatically, Sabo put his hand over his heart and bowed before standing up straight and smirking. "At your service."

"Suge! I have legends in my apartment!" Luffy shouted excitedly.

"Legends? Really? I think that's a little too much." Ace muttered shyly.

"Are you kidding me!? There was a legendary war to save your ass and people still spoke about you for years after that!" Sabo and Luffy shouted in unison.

"Okay okay! Calm down!" Ace said with his hands raised defensively while thinking of a way to change the subject when a thought came to mind. "Wait. Didn't you want us to break a wall?"

"Oh yeah! Come on." Luffy said, guiding Ace and Sabo into the living room. "Break this wall for me."

"Why?" Sabo questioned.

"Break it down and then I'll tell you. I want it _all _gone. The entire wall." Luffy said simply.

"You actually have permission for this, right?" Ace asked, knocking on the wall and leaving a hole in it.

"Even if I didn't, it's too late now. Just take it down. I'll see you when it's done." Luffy said before running out the front door.

Ace sighed. "Better get started. With how weak this wall is, it should be easy."

"How hard did you hit it?" Sabo asked while walking up to the wall.

"All I did was tap it." Ace said.

"You think it's safe to take it down?" Sabo asked.

"We'll make pillars if we have to." Ace suggested before punching the wall, his hand easily tearing through.

Sabo sighed before kicking the wall and leaving a well-sized hole. "How has this thing not fallen yet?"

"No clue." Ace said as he pulled his hand out, bringing a chunk of the wall with it.

-x-x-x-

Twenty minutes later, the wall was gone and Ace and Sabo were staring at Luffy. Luffy was sitting on a lawn chair in the living room of the other apartment while eating poptarts. He stood from his chair and looked at where the wall was. He really hadn't thought about the mess. He then looked at the two rooms combined and smiled, nodding his head slightly. It looked just as he had imagined it.

"What was that all about?" Ace eventually asked.

"While you guys were sleeping, I realized my apartment was too small. I ended up buying this one and wanted to combine them. I thought it'd be nice to have more room." Luffy explained.

"But why?" Sabo asked.

"Don't you remember? I told you earlier that I want you guys to stay with me. I won't be lonely anymore and it's better than looking like a stalker and watching me from the roofs." Luffy said somewhat sadly.

"Oh yeah." Sabo muttered with a smile. "But you didn't have to go this far."

"I wanted to. Like I said. My apartment was too small." Luffy said with a shrug.

"Hey. I don't mean to be rude and change the subject or anything but… How long have you known we were watching you?" Ace asked.

"Hm…" Luffy sounded as he thought about it. "Almost two years."

"And you never did anything?" Sabo questioned.

"Well I would have if you did something. But you never did. I'll admit, the first month I was kinda freaked out. But I just kinda got over it." Luffy said.

"Why? You had two guys following you everywhere. Why would you just ignore it?" Ace questioned.

"Easy. Like I said, the first month I was freaked out but I got over it because of one fact. If you were going to attack me or something, you would have already done it. My window was almost always open so if you wanted to, you could have killed me. It was my way of testing you. When you did nothing, I figured 'Oh well. If I have stalkers, then I have stalkers.' I made it official that if you guys ever broke in and started doing weird things while I wasn't there, then I'd call the cops. I knew you weren't at my place because every time I looked at a roof I saw you guys. Eventually… It just made me feel safe." Luffy admit.

There were a few moments of shocked silence. Luffy knew it sounded strange, but it made sense to him. He knew he'd go to sleep with all of his papers spread out and when he'd wake up, the papers would be in his bag or next to it perfectly neat. Sometimes falling asleep at his desk or couch then waking up on his bed. He figured it was his 'stalkers' that were helping him and he honestly couldn't say he hated it.

"Alright." Sabo finally said with a smirk. "But if we're going to stay here, then we need to get a few things. This place is _way _too empty."

"Cool. Ace?" Luffy questioned, hoping the vampire would stay as well.

Ace was silent for a little while longer before he sighed. "I can't say I agree with your point of view, but, after spending my entire life with a bunch of idiots, I've learned to just accept it. I'll stick around if you want."

"Awesome!" Luffy shouted happily.

"Did you just call me an idiot?" Sabo questioned in disbelief.

"Face it. You are. Idiocy is contagious. It went from Lu, to me, to you." Ace stated.

"At least you admit it." Sabo muttered under his breath.

"…Shut up." Ace muttered.

Luffy chuckled. "So, if we're going out, you guys need to get dressed."

"What do you mean?" Sabo questioned.

"We're going to the mall. You're not going dressed as a noble. Ace, you aren't going half naked." Luffy said bluntly.

"Then what do you suggest?" Ace asked.

"Hm… Give me a minute. Oh, and while I'm gone, can you clean up this mess? Thanks, bye!" Luffy said before running out the front door, leaving no room for argument.

-x-x-x-

Thirty minutes later, Luffy returned with a few different clothes that had just been washed. He handed them to Ace and Sabo and told them to take their picks then get dressed. After grabbing what they wanted they picked their rooms and got dressed.

Ace had come out first, and somewhat reluctantly. He didn't like wearing a shirt but agreed to it. He ended up wearing a white t-shirt, which was covered mostly by a black sleeveless hoodie with an orange zipper and orange strings for the hood, along with loose, dark blue, boot-cut jeans and his usual boots. His hair had been brushed back and he was wearing his orange cowboy hat along with his usual accessories.

"So?" Ace questioned.

"Hm…" Luffy sounded before walking up to Ace, taking off his hat and messing up his hair before putting the hat back on. "There. You're hair pulled back doesn't look right. Also, try this on." Luffy pulled a silver watch out of his pocket and put it on Ace's left wrist.

Looking at the watch, Ace couldn't help but laugh. In the background was an image of flames surrounding what looked like his tattoo on his left arm. Instead of numbers, there were black lines, and where the three, six, nine, and twelve would be, were images. Where the three would be, there was the letter 'D' that looked like it was on fire. At the six was the symbol for the old Spade Pirates. In the nine's spot was an image of his hat. Finally, on the twelve, was Whitebeard's symbol.

"This watch…" Ace said through his laughter.

"Yes it's based off of you. There are a lot of people who liked you guys. If you go up into the mountains, there's this little shack that sells a lot of stuff that's based off of you, Sabo, and Strawhat. Also, if you press that button, the fire glows." Luffy explained.

"Oh I have to see this!" Ace said before pressing the button and seeing the flames flicker. He immediately burst into laughter at the simple effect. Eventually his laughter died, Ace wiped away the tears. "That's awesome. I wanna go to that shack and just see how stupid half the stuff is."

"They have copies of your hat, Sabo's hat and goggles, and straw hats. They even have temporary tattoos that match yours as well as clothes that look like all of yours. That place might as well be a costume shop." Luffy explained.

"I gotta see that." Ace said, trying not to laugh again as he looked at the watch.

"See what?" A voice said from behind Ace.

Ace and Luffy both turned to see Sabo and were surprised with his look. He was wearing a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows along with an unbuttoned black vest and lose black tie. His lose, worn out, grey jeans, which were held up by a black studded belt, covered the top of his black boots. In addition, he had somehow gotten a black straw fedora and had put his usual goggles on along with somehow getting black nylon gloves.

"I'll take the silence as a good thing?" Sabo questioned.

"Dude! This is, like, the first time I've seen you look so casual! I like it." Ace stated.

"Yeah. I kinda like it actually. I also like the fact that you're finally wearing a shirt." Sabo said.

"…If it had Oyaji's mark, I'd be happier." Ace muttered.

"His mark is on your watch." Luffy reminded, causing Ace to look at his watch and laugh again.

"What am I missing here?" Sabo asked in confusion.

"I gave him a watch that's based off of him." Luffy said bluntly as he pointed to the watch.

Sabo stepped closer and looked at the watch before laughing so hard he was holding his stomach. "Wait! It gets better!" Ace laughed as he pressed the button and made the fire flicker causing him and Sabo to laugh even more. Soon enough, both 'men' were on the floor holding their stomachs and were laughing so hard that they couldn't breathe.

Luffy looked at the watch and then back at the two laughing hyenas that were rolling around on the floor. He couldn't help but chuckle at them and then at how convenient it was. The tattoo on his left bicep was the center piece to the watch on his left wrist. The tattoo on his back was on the top of the watch. The hat he treasured was on the side of the watch. He laughed a little more until he actually looked at the two dying hyenas and started laughing harder.

-x-x-x-

An hour later, Ace, Sabo and Luffy had stopped laughing and had arrived at the mall. The first thing they did was go to the food court where they bought lunch. Next, they went clothes shopping. Ace was reluctant to buy any shirts, not liking how he had to cover up Oyaji's mark, but eventually found a few shirts with the mark on it. Sabo had found a few more outfits that were somewhat formal but mostly casual. Luffy had grabbed a few clothes for them in secret, believing the outfits would look good on the two.

While Ace and Sabo were still looking around the store, Luffy ran to a shop not too far away where he found a few iron on patches of the Whitebeard logo. He bought a few of them and started heading back to the shop he left Ace and Sabo at. On the way, he heard a familiar voice call him, causing him to stop and look around.

"Annry! What's up?" A girl called as she ran up to Luffy.

The girl had long and wavy orange hair that was pulled into a loose pony tail and seemed to stop around her waist. She was wearing a short, skin tight shirt that tied around her neck, which was red on top, then yellow, then green at the bottom, along with her dark grey short shorts and light pink high heels that wrapped around her ankles. As usual, she was wearing her golden bracelets that she seemed to never take off.

"Hey Nane!" Luffy called with a smile.

"Oh my God! What happened to you?" The girl, Nane, asked when she saw his cheek.

"I was attacked by some thugs last night. But they were dealt with so we don't have to worry." Luffy said with a small smile.

"As long as they were dealt with… But hey, what are you doing here? And why do you seem different?" Nane asked.

"Just getting some food, new clothes, new furniture, all that stuff." Luffy said.

"Wait. New furniture? Are you redecorating?" Nane questioned.

"Kinda. Some distant relatives came to town and are staying with me so I had to get a bigger apartment and what I have isn't enough." Luffy explained.

"Distant family? I thought your only living family was your father, yoi." A voice said from behind Luffy.

Luffy turned and smiled when he saw who it was. The man looked bored and had a strange hair-do that made his head look like a pineapple. He was wearing black sandals that wrapped around his feet and ankles a strange straw decoration on his left leg along with some dark grey knee-long pants that had a light blue sash and gold belt around his waist. He also had on a loose purple dress shirt that was mostly buttoned up but showed the very top of a dark blue tattoo on his chest.

"Marco! You aren't supposed to talk about him!" Nane shouted at the man.

"It's alright Nane." Luffy said to the girl before turning back to the man. "I thought so too. But then I met them last night and found out they're pretty cool."

"That's good to hear, yoi. You actually seem genuinely happy. I'd like to meet these people if you don't mind, yoi." The man, Marco, said with a small smile, choosing to not ask about the wound on the boy's cheek.

"Sure!" Luffy said with a smile before remembering something. "Oh yeah! Can you two do me a favor?"

"What is it, yoi?" Marco asked.

"I don't know. If it's too hard it might cost you." Nane said with a smirk.

Luffy chuckled at his friends comment. "I don't want you guys to call me Annry anymore."

"What!? But that's your name! What do you expect us to call you!? Scarface!?" Nane shouted, gaining the attention of many people.

"Nane… Please. Calm down. You know as well as I do that that name doesn't really fit anymore. Ever since my mom and sister died, it hasn't really fit me." Luffy said in a calming voice.

"Then, what would you prefer we call you, yoi?" Marco asked.

"Luffy. Call me Luffy." Luffy said with a grin.

Marco's eyes widen slightly before they went back to normal and he smiled. "It fits you, yoi."

"Why'd you choose that name?" Nane asked.

"Hm… You have to promise not to freak out." Luffy said.

"Why would I freak out?" Nane questioned.

"Because… My relatives had a little brother named Luffy who died a while back. He looked exactly like me apparently and they got confused. They called me 'Lu' and I liked it so, since my actual name doesn't fit, I decided to go with it." Luffy explained slowly.

"They think you're their dead brother and you're going along with it!?" Nane questioned, slowly getting louder.

"N-no! They know I'm someone else. When they first saw me they called me that but quickly realized I was someone else. It's totally my idea." Luffy said.

Nane sighed. "I thought you were smart… Whatever. You owe me a new outfit. After we meet them at least."

"Fine…" Luffy muttered before giggling and heading back to the store he left Ace and Sabo at. As soon as he walked into the store, Luffy saw Ace and Sabo leaning against a wall waiting for him. He smiled and ran over to the two. "Hey guys."

"Where'd you go, Lu?" Ace asked curiously.

"Oh. I remembered there was a shop that sold iron on patches and bought a few." Luffy said while grabbing one of the patches out of his bag and showing it to Ace. "I figured if your clothes had Whitebeards mark, then you'd wear shirts more often."

Ace smiled in awe. "That's awesome, Lu. Thanks."

"No problem. Oh and I ran into a few of my friends that I want you to meet. One of them is my history teacher but he's pretty cool." Luffy said just before Nane walked up.

"You really need to learn how to slow down. You run way too fast." Nane complained before seeing the other two men. "Hey. Are these guys the ones you were talking about?"

"Yeah. Nane, meet Ace and Sabo. Ace and Sabo, meet Nane." Luffy said with a smile as he pointed at each person he named.

"Hello." Ace said kindly, bowing his head slightly.

"Nice to meet you Nane." Sabo said with a kind smile.

"So you're the two who are making him change his name? How could you? I don't care if he does or doesn't look like your deceased brother. You don't just randomly walk up to him and start treating him like someone else!" Nane ranted.

"Nane. Please! I already told you. It's alright." Luffy said, trying to calm his friend.

"Hmph. Three outfits." Nane muttered.

"What?" Luffy questioned, not fully understanding.

"You owe me three outfits." Nane said simply.

"Nane… I still have to buy furniture. Can't I buy you clothes some other time?" Luffy asked.

"Alright." Nane said cheerfully. "But with each day you're late, that another outfit."

"I'll give you a hundred beri. Will that work?" Luffy asked pulling out his wallet.

"Make it two hundred and you've got a deal." Nane said.

"One fifty." Luffy said seriously.

"Three hundred." Nane raised.

"One hundred." Luffy said, slowly putting his wallet away.

"Three fifty." Nane said, her eyes narrowing.

"Fifty." Luffy said, his wallet closed and getting closer to his pocket.

"Three seventy-five." Nane said, watching his wallet the whole time.

"I give you nothing and you owe me dinner." Luffy said, causing Nane's eyes to widen.

"I'll go with the hundred!" Nane said in a panicked tone.

"Thought so." Luffy said with a smile as he took a hundred beri bill out of his pocket and gave it to the orangette.

"Thanks An- Luffy! Oh and nice meeting you guys!" Nane said before leaving the store.

"Was that Nami?" Ace whispered to Sabo.

"Yup." Sabo whispered in return.

"Did Luffy just bargain with her? And win?" Ace questioned silently.

"I think so…" Sabo muttered in shock.

"What are you guys talking about?" Luffy asked as he turned towards them.

"Nothing." Ace and Sabo said in unison.

A faint chuckle was heard a few feet away from them. "Oh my God… You're wearing one of those watches, yoi…"

At the mention of the watch, Ace, Sabo and Luffy had to force back their laughter. After calming down enough, Luffy turned towards the owner of the voice who was mostly hidden by a rack of clothes. "Please don't mention that. We already spent a half hour laughing about it." When Luffy looked back to Ace and Sabo, he saw Ace pressing the button to light it up and the three started laughing again.

"It's just so stupid…" Ace said through his laughter. "But it's so worth it at the same time…"

"I don't know which is worse. You or the watch, yoi." The same person said as they slowly came out from behind the rack of clothes.

"I don't know. The watch is pretty bad. If only you knew…" Sabo said after calming down.

"If only I knew what, yoi? Why it's so funny? Because I believe I know the reason, yoi. He's wearing a watch based off of him, correct?" The man said as he stood in clear view.

"How did you…?" Ace asked quietly before seeing the man. "Marco!?"

"Hey Ace." Marco said with a smirk.

"I thought you were dead!" Ace said as he ran over to Marco and started touching his face, arms and shoulders.

"Ace. Stop. Also, I thought you knew about the legend, yoi. The phoenix rises from its own ashes." Marco said, grabbing Ace's wrists to stop the raven from touching him more.

"You son of a bitch! You made me think you were dead!" Ace accused.

"No. That's your own fault. Also, if anyone is to be yelled at, it's you, yoi. You made everyone on the ship think you were dead. Which brings me to my question, how are you alive, yoi?" Marco asked.

Ace looked down sadly as he remembered his family. He wanted to tell them he was alive and alright but couldn't. It wasn't allowed. As if reading his mind, Sabo replied for him.

"Before going to Impel Down, Ace was bitten by a vampire and was turned. The one rule all mythical creatures had to obey back then, was to stay hidden from all humans. Even if they're your friends and family. You're not allowed to interact with them at all. So don't blame him. He already lives with that pain." Sabo explained.

"H-how about we go back home? You guys can catch up and we can get furniture and anything else some other time." Luffy suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Ace muttered under his breath.

With that agreed on, Luffy paid for the clothes and they left, returning to their apartment.

**(Aaaaaaaand done! Holy shit that's a long chapter! Marco is alive! Also, that watch I described, I own it. I was looking at it while describing it. Sadly the fire doesn't really light up. Also, Nane/Nami's outfit was her third outfit in the One Piece movie Strong World. As usual. Fave, follow, read my other stuff, and review! Bai~! c(X )**

**Start time – 10:30 A.M.**

**End Time – 8:30 P.M.**


	4. Catching Up

Chapter 4: Catching up

**(Hey guyz~! I'm sorry for not updating. When I finally remembered this story, I ended up getting writers block. Sorry! I ended up re-reading it last night and got an idea but ended up going to sleep before I could write it down. But now I have at least somewhat of an idea. On to the crap!)**

**Note: There's an important A/N at the bottom of the chapter that I would appreciate you reading. Also, if there's any error's in the chapter, please tell me in the reviews.**

-x-x-x-

_Previously:_

_A faint chuckle was heard a few feet away from them. "Oh my God… You're wearing one of those watches, yoi…"_

_At the mention of the watch, Ace, Sabo and Luffy had to force back their laughter. After calming down enough, Luffy turned towards the owner of the voice who was mostly hidden by a rack of clothes. "Please don't mention that. We already spent a half hour laughing about it." When Luffy looked back to Ace and Sabo, he saw Ace pressing the button to light it up and the three started laughing again._

"_It's just so stupid…" Ace said through his laughter. "But it's so worth it at the same time…"_

_-x-x-x-_

"_Marco!?"_

_-x-x-x-_

"_Before going to Impel Down, Ace was bitten by a vampire and was turned. The one rule all mythical creatures had to obey back then, was to stay hidden from all humans. Even if they're your friends and family. You're not allowed to interact with them at all. So don't blame him. He already lives with that pain." Sabo explained._

"_H-how about we go back home? You guys can catch up and we can get furniture and anything else some other time." Luffy suggested._

"_Sounds good to me." Ace muttered under his breath._

_With that agreed on, Luffy paid for the clothes and they left, returning to their apartment._

-x-x-x-

They all sat in the living room, not a single sound between them. Ace and Sabo were sitting on the couch while Luffy was sitting on the ground across from them and Marco was leaning against the wall, with his arms crossed, directly in front of Ace. Ace was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and fingers intertwined while staring at the ground directly at his feet. Sabo was looking at Ace almost worriedly and stealing small glances at Marco, only to find the older blonde staring at Ace with his usual bored expression. Luffy looked between all three men with curiosity before sighing lightly.

Deciding he didn't like the silence, Luffy cleared his throat, causing the older three to jump slightly. "So… How do you know each other?"

For the first time since leaving the mall, Ace looked at Marco. "Care to tell him? You know him more than I do at the moment."

Marco sighed and closed his eyes as he started to unbutton his dress shirt. Luffy looked at him with curious eyes as he wondered why his history teacher was undressing. "What are you doing…?"

Luffy's question faded off at the end as the last button was undone and showed the tattoo on the blonde man's chest. His eyes widened as he stared at the tattoo that he recognized as the Whitebeard Jolly Roger on Marco's chest. "Captain of the Whitebeard pirates, Marco the Phoenix." Marco stated calmly.

"Wait! You're the first division commander that became captain? Is that why you never said the name?" Luffy questioned, completely shocked.

"I didn't want anyone to figure it out. Didn't want to explain everything, yoi." Marco said as he crossed his arms again, not bothering to button up his shirt.

Luffy sat silently as he stared at his history teacher with wide eyes. After a few moments, Marco started to feel slightly bothered while Ace and Sabo watched him curiously. "Um… Lu?" Sabo muttered.

"Suge!" Luffy shouted as he jumped to his feet. "My teacher is a legend and my best friends are legends also! This is the best day of my life!"

Ace, Sabo and Marco couldn't help but smile and shake their heads. "Even after all these years, he's almost the exact same, yoi." Marco said with a small smirk.

"What do you mean?" Sabo asked curiously.

"Annry is a genius. Your brother, to be completely honest, was an idiot, yoi." Marco stated.

"Marco~! I told you not to call me that!" Luffy whined.

"I spent a year trying not to call you 'Luffy' and now you want me too? Ignore what I just said, yoi. Both Luffy's are idiots." Marco said, causing Ace and Sabo to chuckle.

"Hey!" Luffy shouted in annoyance.

"Oh calm down Lu. We're just messing around." Ace said with a smirk.

"You're book-smart, but not really street-smart." Sabo added with a smirk of his own.

"Speaking of book-smart versus street-smart, mind telling me why he's been turning in homework with writing that isn't his own, yoi?" Marco asked as he looked at Ace and Sabo incredulously.

"Oh come on Pineapple head! He gets home exhausted and can't do his work so we help him!" Ace said.

"And did you ever think his teachers might notice?" Marco questioned.

"Honestly? I didn't. But there's a reason!" Ace said quickly before Marco could reply. "Teachers have how many students? A lot. Do you really think all of them would memorize each of their students hand writing?"

"I noticed." Marco said bluntly.

"Well, to be fair, you did a lot of paper work back then and if there was even the slightest difference then it could be fake so…" Sabo defended.

"And you know this how?" Marco asked.

"And why didn't you say anything?" Ace asked.

"Really? You guys knew him personally but didn't know this?" Luffy questioned in disbelief. "Hello~! Does the term 'Head of Staff' mean nothing to you guys? That means second in command or first mate. He had to do the same thing as Marco and more!"

"It's honestly pretty depressing that he actually met me last night and knows me more than you two." Sabo stated.

"To be fair, I only knew your title as Mad Hatter. You vanished before I could truly meet you, yoi." Marco defended.

"True enough." Sabo said before looking to Ace.

"You never talked about it!" Ace shouted with his hands up in defense.

"Yes I did! I took up ten minutes of your hundreds of years to tell you about the ten years I was supposedly dead!" Sabo shouted in annoyance.

"I must have had a fit." Ace mumbled.

"Bullshit. You just didn't care." Sabo muttered under his breath.

"On a lighter subject… Marco. What made you choose to come to East Blue? And to this island of all islands?" Luffy asked.

"I was traveling a lot. When I found out this was the island where Ace and his brothers grew up, I decided to stay for a while, yoi. Then I saw you and couldn't really leave. It was nice seeing some familiar faces, yoi." Marco explained.

"So you were lonely, found someone you thought you knew, and decided to stick around?" Ace asked.

"You could say that." Marco muttered.

"Oh… Hey, Ace and Sabo, what made you guys come back here?" Luffy questioned.

"We never came back after we went to sea. We wanted to know how things changed." Sabo informed.

"Some of us were a little more relentless." Ace mumbled under his breath.

"We didn't know if it changed for the better or for the worse. The nobles could have taken over the entire island and turn it into douchebag territory." Sabo argued.

"Or the nobles could have been kicked out." Ace replied.

"Actually, all the nobles left of their own free will, yoi. They were given an opportunity to go to an island where only nobles were allowed. That is why everyone avoids Dressrosa at all costs, yoi." Marco explained.

"Yes!" Sabo shouted accidently while throwing his fists into the air before quickly lowering them.

"I think you're a little happy…" Luffy muttered.

"Of course I am! I don't have to deal with any stuck up pigs ever again!" Sabo exclaimed happily.

"Actually, someone from noble lineage is in one of my classes. He likes to flaunt that around, yoi." Marco commented with a small smirk.

"Are you kidding me!?" Sabo shouted.

"Oh! Are you talking about Stelly?" Luffy asked, looking at Marco.

"Stelly!?" Sabo yelled in shock.

"Quit yelling!" Ace and Marco shouted.

"Well, sorry… It's not every day you find out your adopted little brother – of whom you strongly dislike – might still be around." Sabo muttered.

"I'm pretty sure it's not the same guy. He keeps saying how he was named after his great, great, great, great, great grandfather." Luffy said thoughtfully. "But whenever we talk about pirates, he gets upset. I asked him why once and he said it was because one of his ancestors ruined his family name by becoming a pirate."

Sabo stared at Luffy for a few moments before his left eye started twitching. "Sabo?" Ace questioned before Sabo's head fell in defeat.

"I hate my life. I hate my family. I hate that kid already and I haven't even met him…" Sabo muttered.

"It's alright dude. Hopefully we don't meet him." Ace said as he pat his brothers back.

"On a different subject, have you two been to that shop on the mountains yet, yoi?" Marco asked.

"You mean the one that sells stuff based off us? Not really." Ace said as he looked at his watch and giggled before moving it into Sabo's line of vision and pressing the button making the ex-revolutionary giggle.

"Can we go? I wanna go!" Luffy said excitedly as he jumped around the room.

"I'm actually curious about this store. I say we go." Sabo said as he lifted his head.

"While we're out there, maybe we can see if our treehouse and Dadan's house are still there." Ace suggested as he stood from the couch.

"Good idea." Sabo said as he stood.

"Yay!" Luffy cheered as he grabbed Ace's and Sabo's hands before pulling them through the front door causing the two captives to yell at him to slow down.

Marco could help but smile. He knew Luffy hadn't shown a real smile ever since the accident. Now that he was showing that smile again, Marco couldn't help but be happy. Even if it was a different kid, he still had the same ability as the famous Strawhat Captain; he was able to make anyone near him smile.

-x-x-x-

After about thirty minutes of walking, the four men arrived at the edge of the forest. Instantly Ace and Sabo grinned before running into the forest with Luffy and Marco close behind. Luffy and Marco knew there was a path to the shop but the other two were far too happy.

Luffy couldn't help but be amazed when he saw Ace and Sabo practically flying through the trees. The two brothers were jumping off the trees with such speed and agility that they looked like they had never left the forest they once grew up in. Luffy couldn't help but giggle when he imagined them as monkeys. He couldn't help it. They were acting like they had lived in the trees their entire lives, much like monkeys.

Marco, on the other hand, was just happy to see Ace acting like how he used to; always jumping into things without thinking while having a good time. His trademark grin was spread across his freckled cheeks as he jumped from branch to branch. Marco would have been doing the same but didn't want to leave Luffy alone. He figured this counted as a sort of 'Welcome Home' for the two brothers.

Suddenly, Ace and Sabo stopped and their grins grew larger. Luffy and Marco looked up into the trees and saw a large treehouse that surprised them both. They figured it would be a simple treehouse when, in truth, it was more of a fort in the trees. Soon enough, Ace and Sabo had jumped into the treehouse and disappeared from sight.

Marco looked to Luffy, silently asking if he needed help getting up to it, to which Luffy shook his head. Marco nodded slightly before jumping into the trees and onto the balcony. Luffy looked around a bit and soon found a way up. He kicked himself off the trunk of a nearby tree then grabbed a thick branch of the tree next to it. Using his momentum, Luffy swung around the branch before getting his feet onto it then, using the branch as a bridge, he walked onto the balcony next to Marco.

"Impressive." Marco commented.

"Thanks, but that was nothing." Luffy said with a shrug before heading towards the doorway.

"Watch out!" Ace and Sabo shouted as they saw Luffy about to step on the tripwire.

"What?" Luffy asked curiously as he blinked his eyes a few times.

"There's traps everywhere. You have to be more careful." Sabo said as he pointed out the trip wire and the mechanism it was connected to before finally pointing out the giant hammer.

"How did you come up with all of this, yoi?" Marco asked as he looked in through the door.

"We were extremely wanted, even back then. We stole from pirates, nobles, anyone who had money. We were trying to save money so we could get a ship and be pirates. We had to defend ourselves and we felt like living on our own so we made a treehouse with a bunch of defenses." Ace informed.

"And how old were you?" Luffy asked.

"Ten." Ace and Sabo stated bluntly.

"Seriously!?" Luffy questioned in shock.

"Isn't it obvious? There's a lot of mess up's and it's pretty small." Sabo said.

"You obviously don't know what small is, yoi…" Marco muttered.

Luffy walked around, watching his every step to make sure he didn't set off any traps. He looked at everything he could find. Soon his eyes fell onto a bag with three red sake cups in it. He walked over to it and stared at it. "Sake cups?"

At the sudden comment, Ace and Sabo turned to Luffy only to see what he was staring at. Suddenly, their grins turned into sad smiles as they walked over to the bag to get a better look at the cups. They were covered in dust and you could just barely tell they were red. Proof of how long they had been away from home. Proof of how long it had been since the three brothers were actually a trio.

"Luffy…" Sabo muttered under his breath when he noticed a crack in one of the cups.

"It's been a seriously long time… Hasn't it?" Ace whispered, a few tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.

"I know it's a little late but… How about we give him a funeral of our own?" Sabo quietly asked as he looked to Ace.

Ace nodded before going over to one of the corners of the treehouse and climbing up to the top, followed by Sabo.

Luffy looked to Marco curiously, hoping for some answers. Just as he was about to speak, Marco put a finger to his lips as a sign to stay quiet. After a few moments, Marco followed the brothers to the roof with Luffy close behind.

Ace and Sabo were standing in the crow's nest of the tree house while putting up a flag. As soon as the flag was raised, a gust of wind flew by causing the flag to fully unravel and show a simple design. A black flag with a pair of crossbones along with a red 'A', a blue 'S', and a yellow 'L'. The flag was simple yet held a bond that exceeded time itself. A sign of true brotherhood and a bond that would never falter.

"I'm sorry Lu… We promised we would protect you." Sabo whispered, almost as if speaking too loudly would destroy everything.

"We're terrible brothers…" Ace muttered as a small tear fell from his eye.

"_Shishishi!_" A voice echoed with the wind. "_No you're not! You're the best brothers in the world! It's been hundreds of years and you're still worried about me. Doesn't that prove anything? We're brothers. That'll never change and will always be my treasure._"

Sitting on the edge of the crow's nest, staring at the sea, was a transparent young man with a straw hat on his head along with a red cardigan, blue shorts, and a pair of sandals. "Luffy?" Ace and Sabo whispered in shock.

The ghost stood up, turned towards the brothers and grinned. "_Hey._"

"Strawhat…" Marco muttered.

Strawhat looked up and smiled at Marco. "_Hey Pineapple! Do you think you can watch over my brothers for me? I can't really stay for too long. My crew still needs me, you know?_"

"I understand. Please tell my crew and Oyaji that I miss them, yoi." Marco said.

"_They already know. They miss you too, but they're always with you. Maybe not in person, but they're still watching._" Strawhat said.

"Thank you." Marco nodded. "If I may ask, how long have you been there, yoi?"

Strawhat thought for a few moments before looking at his hands and seeing they were more transparent then he remembered. "_A while. I got here a little before you guys did. But it looks like I have to leave soon…_"

"No!" Ace and Sabo shouted in fear as they each grabbed one of their brother's hands.

"You can't go yet! You just got here." Ace exclaimed as a few more tears fell from his eyes and streamed down his cheeks.

"Please… Don't leave us again. We haven't been able to talk to you in years. Please stay longer." Sabo begged with a few of his own tears falling as well.

"_Guys… You should really be over this by now. It's been hundreds of years._" Strawhat muttered sadly.

"You're telling them to get over your death, but answer this one question; did you ever get over their 'deaths'? When you thought they died, were you ever able to get over it?" Luffy questioned.

Strawhat looked at Luffy for a few moments before a small chuckle escaped him. "_You look exactly like me…_" he whispered before getting back to the original question. "_Yes, I did. I'll admit I missed them so much, but one thought helped me get over it. I always thought that they were with me. Like I told Marco. 'They may not be there in person, but they're here in spirit.' That thought made me feel less lonely._"

"Lu…" Ace whispered before pulling the ghost boy into a hug along with Sabo. "I'm sorry…"

"_It's not your fault. You didn't ask for this._" Strawhat said as he hugged his brothers back. Feeling himself become more transparent and about to fade completely, he chose to finish up quickly. "_You may not be able to see me, but that doesn't mean I'm not next to you. I love you guys more than anything in the world and I'd never abandon you. I'm always watching. I always have been. Ace, your crew and your parents wanted me to tell you they're proud. Sabo, the revolutionaries and your crew are proud of you as well. Keep being yourselves and take care of him._" Strawhat said, nodding at Luffy at the last part, before giving his brothers one final squeeze and fading away.

After a few moments of silence, Ace and Sabo let go of each other and wiped away both their shed and unshed tears. They silently climbed down into the treehouse before taking one final look around the place. They remembered everything from meeting Luffy all the way to their last days on the island. Those few months that the trio had been together was the best time of their entire lives.

"Sorry you had to see that." Sabo said after turning back to Luffy and Marco.

"It's fine. We would probably do the same." Luffy said with a small and forgiving smile.

"He was smarter than I remember, yoi…" Marco muttered.

"That's because you didn't see him for probably ten years before he died. A lot happens in only ten years." Ace stated as he turned to Marco with a small smirk.

"Like you for example." Sabo said, turning to Ace.

"How so?" Ace questioned.

"Well, when I saw you before being taken away, you were rude, cursed all the time, and were willing to murder anyone who got too close other than Lu and I. Ten years later, you're kind, you smile, you don't hate everything, you're on a crew and not as the captain, etc." Sabo listed.

"And some things never change. Like you being a smartass." Ace stated.

"Touché." Sabo said, causing Marco to sigh and Luffy to laugh.

"Can we please just go, yoi?" Marco asked.

"Aw~ Is the pineapple upset~?" Ace teased.

Without a word, Marco infused his fist with haki and punched Ace in the head. "Ow!" Ace shouted in pain, causing Luffy to giggle. When Ace heard the small giggle, he immediately jumped at Luffy and gave him a noogie. "Think it's funny, huh?"

"Ow ow ow ow ow! Stop!" Luffy said with a small giggle.

"Ace." Sabo scolded.

"Oh come on! He laughed at me! And he's still doing it!" Ace complained.

"He's a kid! He doesn't know better!" Sabo tried to rationalize.

"I'm not a kid! I'm eighteen!" Luffy shouted causing Ace to stop.

"First of all, compared to us, you're an infant. Secondly, I thought you were seventeen." Sabo stated.

"I turned eighteen a few weeks ago." Luffy said as he sat up and got out of Ace's grip.

"When?" Ace asked.

"May 5th." Luffy stated simply. **(I just realized I last updated on Luffy's birthday…)**

Ace and Sabo sat there, silently staring at Luffy. After a few seconds, the brothers turned to each other and blinked. "D-did he just say…?" Ace muttered.

"Yeah…" Sabo sounded before facepalming.

"What?" Luffy asked.

Instantly, Ace and Sabo started laughing, confusing Luffy and Marco further. After about a minute of laughing, the brothers had calmed down and had regained their breath. "So what's so funny about his birthday, yoi?" Marco asked.

"We were trying to find differences between our brother and Luffy earlier today because _somebody_ – Ace – chose to ignore that they are different people. After going to the mall and right now, I'm finding more things alike rather than different." Sabo explained.

Slowly, Luffy turned his head towards Ace and glared at him. Not saying a word, Luffy stared at him. "Ace…" Marco called, recognizing that look after seeing it a few times.

"What?" Ace asked as he turned to Marco, only to get punched in the back of the head by Luffy. "Ow!" he shouted before his face hit the floor. When Ace got up, he started rubbing his face only to hear the sound of knuckles cracking. He looked toward the sound and saw Luffy cracking his knuckles while smiling. "What the hell!?"

"I may not have a Devil Fruit or some weird abilities but I'm not weak either." Luffy stated simply.

"How did you hit him?" Sabo asked.

"What do you mean?" Luffy asked.

"Ace is a Logia user. If you're a normal human than it's almost impossible to actually harm a Logia user, yoi. So how did you?" Marco asked.

"Simple. Haki." Luffy stated.

"You know haki!?" Ace questioned.

"Yup. All three kinds. My entire family did. As soon as I started going to school, I started learning haki. I have all three mastered but never really needed to use them." Luffy informed.

"Then why didn't you use it last night?" Sabo asked.

"I tried. Those bastards weren't effected though." Luffy said defensively.

"I presume whatever happened last night is the cause of the wounds, yoi?" Marco questioned.

Instantly, the happy mood left the room and Luffy was looking at the floor while Sabo was looking at him with worry. "Wait… What do you mean by 'wounds'?" Ace asked causing Luffy to flinch.

"Ace… I know you have your moments of stupidity but really, yoi? In case you haven't noticed, he has a very clear wound on his left cheek." Marco stated.

"I know that! I wanna know why you said it in plural." Ace said with some worry evident in his eyes.

Marco sighed. "His neck, yoi. He's hiding them pretty well but they're still obvious to my eyes."

At the mention of his neck, Luffy flinched and looked away to where nobody could see his face. Slowly, Ace walked over to Luffy, not hearing Sabo calling his name. As soon as he was in front of the younger raven, he started to move the collar of Luffy's shirt only for the younger to move his head to stop the older. "Luffy… Let me see." Ace whispered calmly.

When Luffy didn't move, Ace gently grabbed the younger's chin and moved his head. Luffy, choosing not to resist, closed his eyes and prepared for the anger issues Fire Fist was rumored to have. Ace gently pulled on the collar again and looked at the wounds. As soon as he saw how many marks there were and how much color was in each one, Ace's eyes glowed with a crimson hue. "Are there more?"

"N-no… Only my cheek and left shoulder…" Luffy stuttered.

"I'm going to mutilate that thug's corpse." Ace growled.

"No!" Luffy shouted, looking up and into Ace's eyes with fear in his own. "Sabo already killed him. You don't have to worry about it. Please calm down."

Ace was shocked when he saw the fear in Luffy's eyes. Instantly, the crimson hue disappeared and his eyes returned to the glowing obsidian they usually were. Letting go of a breath he didn't realize he was holding, Ace nodded slightly. "Alright… But why…?"

"If you went back and somebody saw you, then you would get in trouble. I don't want you to go to jail or anything like that." Luffy said, the fear in his eyes fading but still evident.

Ace sighed and smiled, scratching the back of his head. "Fine. I won't go. But I do have to go somewhere."

"Where?" Luffy asked, the fear slightly growing.

Ace chuckled. "To the shop where you got this stupid watch."

Luffy looked at the watch and saw Ace was already pressing the button making the flames flicker, causing him to laugh. "Alright!"

Suddenly, Sabo clapped his hands together once. "How about we go now then?"

Remembering the two blonde's, Ace stepped away from Luffy as the smaller fixed his shirt. "Alright. Follow me." Luffy said before walking out of the treehouse and jumping to the ground, followed by Ace.

"You were getting the same feeling, yoi?" Marco asked as he passed Sabo.

"Oh yeah. It feels great being forgotten by my own brother only so that he can hang out with the reincarnation of my other brother." Sabo said, heavy sarcasm lacing each word.

"You felt that too, yoi?" Marco questioned with a smirk.

"If Ace is anything, it's definitely not subtle." Sabo stated before leaving the treehouse, followed by Marco.

-x-x-x-

About ten minutes later, they arrived on a path that Ace and Sabo found very familiar. Believing they knew where they were headed, the brothers took up the lead and started running again. After a minute of running, they arrived at the shop and couldn't help but smile.

"You know…" Ace began when he knew Luffy and Marco were next to him. "When you mentioned a 'shack up in the mountains', I didn't think you would be talking about the house I grew up in."

"Seriously?" Luffy asked.

"Boys, welcome to Dadan's house." Sabo said happily.

"Then let's go! Let's find out how much it's changed!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly as he ran to the door.

"Hopefully not too much. I wonder what they did to our room…" Sabo said thoughtfully.

"I hope the only difference to that place is that it's actually clean for once." Ace said jokingly as he started towards the entrance.

"For once, yoi?" Marco asked.

"Yeah. No matter how many times you tried to clean the place, it always ended up being dirty again two seconds later!" Sabo said with a chuckle before heading towards the building with Marco following.

When they got to the door, Ace took a deep breath before walking in. When he looked around, his eyes widened. One section was based off of him, the one next to it was based off of Sabo, and the third was based off of Luffy. Behind the counter were flags and various items with the letters 'ASL' in their respective colors. In Ace's section were a few items with the Spade Pirates Jolly Roger, Whitebeard's Jolly Roger, and Gold Roger's Jolly Roger. In Sabo's section were a few items with the Revolutionary logo and the Mad Hatter logo. Luffy's area had the most variety as it had the Strawhat symbol along with all the Jolly Roger's each of his crew members had. In each section was multiple replicas of the brother's usual outfits along with their hats. There were even temporary tattoos of their scars and tattoos.

"Oh my god…" Ace muttered under his breath as he looked around.

"You have got to be kidding me…" Sabo whispered as he walked over to the section based off of himself.

Luffy ran off to the Strawhat section while Ace and Marco went off to Ace's area. Ace stopped in front of a black jacket with a Whitebeard Jolly Roger on the entire back and two faces on the front, over the heart. The two faces were the exact same as the pendants on Ace's hat; a frowning face and a face with a mischievous smile.

"It would look good on you, yoi." Marco said with a chuckle before walking away.

"How about I buy my own tattoo as well, you damn pineapple!" Ace shouted while pointing at the stack of temporary tattoos that read 'ASCE' with the 'S' crossed out.

"Hey you damn brats! No shouting!" A voice yelled, causing Ace to jump.

When Ace turned to apologize, he came face to face with a very familiar person. "Sabo..." he called with slight fear and confusion.

"What?" Sabo asked as he came around the corner, only to see the familiar face as well. "What the hell…?"

"I'm not the only one seeing this right?" Ace questioned.

"Nope…" Sabo muttered.

"The hell are you brats talking about?" The person asked in annoyance.

"What are you two complaining about, yoi?" Marco questioned as he came around the corner.

The first thing Marco saw was a large woman – with long, curly orange hair and a masculine face – staring at Ace and Sabo. Then he saw the scared and confused looks on both Ace and Sabo's faces. "What am I missing here, yoi?"

At that comment, Luffy came around the corner while wearing a straw hat and grinning. "Hey Dadan! Can I get a discount on this hat? Ace, Sabo. You wouldn't be upset if I got this hat, right? I kinda like it."

Immediately, the large woman, Dadan, turned to Luffy and glared. "Damn brat. You ask me for discounts every time you come here! Every time you ask, I say 'no'! What do you think!?"

"Yes?" Luffy asked with a grin.

"Damn it, Annry!" Dadan shouted in annoyance.

"That's not my name anymore." Luffy muttered with a pout. "How many times do I have to say that?"

"You have to tell almost everybody you know. Think about it that way, yoi." Marco stated, causing Luffy to sigh.

"If you're changing your name then I need to know it. I need to know what name to use for your tab." Dadan muttered as she went back to her desk.

"Luffy! I'm changing my name to Luffy." The younger raven said with a smile.

"What!? I know you like pirates but that doesn't mean you should change your name to be like one!" Dadan scolded.

"That's not why." Luffy stated as he put the hat on the counter along with a red cardigan.

"Then why?" Dadan asked, wondering why she even cared.

"Long story. Mostly because of them." Luffy said while pointing his thumb at the still frozen Ace and Sabo.

"You meet two random people and decide to change your name because of them?" Dadan sighed. "I thought you were smarter than that…"

"He is. The reason is actually pretty good, yoi." Marco stated.

"Then why don't you share?" Dadan asked in annoyance.

"Because we all know you don't care, yoi." Marco said.

"True. Is this all?" Dadan asked as she looked down at the hat and shirt.

"Um… I'm gonna get another pair of shorts and an 'ASL' flag. That would be all for me. You mind waiting until those two unfreeze?" Luffy informed.

"I don't care. Tell me when you're done." Dadan said before lighting a cigarette and going back to reading the newspaper.

Leaving his items on the counter, Luffy turned back to Ace and Sabo. "Hello? Anybody in there?"

"Dadan!?" The brothers shouted in unison.

"What do you want!?" Dadan shouted.

"What the hell's going on here?" Ace questioned.

"She looks the exact same…" Sabo muttered.

"Same as who, yoi?" Marco asked.

"Curly Dadan! The woman that raised me and Luffy." Ace answered.

"Curly Dadan? How do you know my great, great, great, great grandmother's name?" Dadan questioned.

"Dadan. This is Portgas D. Ace and Sabo. The original Fire Fist and Mad Hatter. They're still alive." Luffy said.

"And let me guess, the pineapple is the Whitebeard Pirates second Captain." Dadan scoffed.

"First Division Commander and Whitebeard Captain, Marco the Phoenix, yoi." Marco said with a slight tick mark on his forehead.

"It's official. You're all insane. Annry. Get over here and stay away from them." Dadan said as she held out her hand towards the young raven.

"No! And that isn't my name!" Luffy shouted as he grabbed Ace's and Sabo's arms.

"Annry! Get over here right now!" Dadan shouted.

"No! I don't want to!" Luffy shouted in return.

"Don't make me use force, brat!" Dadan yelled as she pulled out an old shotgun.

"You wouldn't dare!" Luffy exclaimed.

Without a second's hesitation, Dadan aimed the gun at the boy and pulled the trigger. Time seemed to freeze as Ace and Marco jumped in the way of the bullet shards and Sabo pulled Luffy out of the way. When Luffy realized what happened, he was shocked and scared for his friends. "Ace! Marco!"

At the call of their names, Ace and Marco turned to Luffy and smirked. Luffy's eyes widened when he saw flames erupting from each of them. There were blue flames covering the right side of Marco's face, chest, and right arm while orange flames covered part of Ace's left cheek and chest. What worried Luffy most was the flames on Marco's face and the flames above Ace's heart. When the flames disappeared, not a single mark was left behind. The only evidence of them being shot was the small holes in their shirts.

"Scared?" Ace teased.

"A-are you guys okay?" Luffy asked.

"Perfectly fine, yoi." Marco stated while scratching his right cheek.

"W-what the hell are you!?" Dadan shouted.

"Portgas D. Ace and Marco the Phoenix." Ace stated simply as he turned to the large woman.

"T-the real Fire Fist and Phoenix…" Dadan muttered in shock.

"They always forget Mad Hatter…" Sabo sighed.

"B-but how…?" Dadan questioned.

"Long story. Don't feel like explaining." Ace answered.

"Do you mind if we look at something real quick?" Sabo asked suddenly.

"G-go ahead." Dadan said as she sat in her seat behind the counter and put her gun away.

"Thanks." Sabo said with a smile before heading to the back of the shop.

They all looked at Sabo curiously until Ace realized where he was going and followed. They stopped in front of a wooden door that looked like it was about to fall off. Slowly and carefully, Sabo opened the door and saw the room was empty. The only things in the room were a few clothes that looked like they belonged to children and three small blankets. Ace and Sabo couldn't help but smile.

"Even though she acted tough, Dadan was still pretty kind. She always worried about us." Sabo said.

"That's only because, if something happened to us, Garp would kill her." Ace muttered with a small smirk.

"I don't think that was it…" Sabo whispered, sweatdropping.

"So… What's this room?" Luffy asked suddenly.

"Our old room." Ace said before walking in. "I'm surprised with how clean it is."

"Why isn't there any dust, yoi?" Marco asked while looking around the old room.

"Pineapple has a good point." Ace stated, causing Marco to punch him in the back of the head. "Ow! Stop hitting me!"

"At least not in the head. He doesn't need more brain damage." Sabo said with a smirk, causing Luffy to giggle.

"Sabo! Luffy!" Ace shouted.

"I've tolerated the name for this long but now it's just annoying, yoi." Marco stated.

"Well… To answer your previous question, every generation of the Dadan family has taken care of this entire building. A few years ago is when it became a store but the back rooms were never changed. It wasn't allowed. It was our family's way of remembering those who are lost." Dadan explained from her desk and past her cigarette.

"I see. Interesting." Marco muttered as he left the room.

"She always thought you would return. She was in denial and refused to believe you brats were dead." Dadan said. "I guess she was right."

"She believed we would come back…" Sabo muttered under his breath.

"That crazy old hag…" Ace whispered before walking out of the room and closing the door behind him.

"She cared. Even if she didn't know how to show it, she loved you guys like her own children." Dadan stated.

"I know… Lu and I even thought of her as our mom at times. Never thought I would worry about her but I did." Ace said with a small smile.

"Well. This is your home so you're welcome to come back whenever you want." Dadan said. "And An- Luffy, the clothes are free. But only this time. Next time you have to pay."

"Thanks Dadan." Luffy said as he grabbed the items off the counter, put them into a bag, and walked over to the other three men. "Ready to go?"

"Just one thing." Ace said before grabbing the jacket Marco had pointed out. "Now I'm ready."

With their items in hand – or in a bag – they left the store and headed back home, this time walking through the forest rather than jumping around.

**(Aaaaaaaand done! Dear God! That took forever! About 6,700 words in four days! XD Yeah that took too long. Again, that jacket I described, is something I own. EBay is amazing! Also, real quick, with the tree house, I know how small it is. I know it isn't actually a fort. To those who argue, I have three words for you; it's my story!**

**IMPORTANT: I recently came up with a few more story ideas and wrote long as hell plots. They could probably be one-shots but with little detail. I fear if I don't put them up as that, then they'll never be put up. So I need to know which to do. Put it up as it is and feel terrible because it looks bad, or don't put it up and possibly never write it as a real story? **

**Also, I'm probably going to put up a poll on my page regarding stories. It'll just be the names of the stories with maybe a slight summary. I know I should be updating the stories I already have up but I keep coming up with ideas by accident and end up writing them down so I don't forget.**

**So, as per usual. Fave, follow, read my other stuff, vote if I make the poll, and review! Bai~! c(X )**

**Start time – 5:30 PM (Saturday)**

**End time – 11:37 AM (Tuesday)**


	5. First Taste

Chapter 5: First Taste

**(Hey guyz~! So! I'm on a cruise ship while writing the beginning of this. The Carnival Imagination. It's my day at sea and I decided to update. On to the crap!)**

-x-x-x-

_Previously:_

"_She cared. Even if she didn't know how to show it, she loved you guys like her own children." Dadan stated._

"_I know… Lu and I even thought of her as our mom at times. Never thought I would worry about her but I did." Ace said with a small smile._

"_Well. This is your home so you're welcome to come back whenever you want." Dadan said. "And An- Luffy, the clothes are free. But only this time. Next time you have to pay."_

"_Thanks Dadan." Luffy said as he grabbed the items off the counter, put them into a bag, and walked over to the other three men. "Ready to go?"_

"_Just one thing." Ace said before grabbing the jacket Marco had pointed out. "Now I'm ready."_

_With their items in hand – or in a bag – they left the store and headed back home, this time walking through the forest rather than jumping around._

-x-x-x-

A month has passed since Ace and Sabo saved Luffy and Ace found out Marco was still alive. Since then, Ace and Sabo met most of Luffy's friends – all of them looking like the Strawhat's and some of their friends. The two brothers had to stop themselves when they met five certain people. When going through Luffy's school they met some of the teachers who looked exactly like Whitebeard, Dragon, and Garp. Shortly after, they met two of Luffy's friends who looked exactly like Thatch and Koala.

During the month, they also bought furniture, utensils, and other clothing. They spent a day refurnishing the apartment and cleaning it up. Each of the rooms were now decorated to each of their likings. Ace had a large, queen sized bed – with white sheets that appeared as if being slowly engulfed in flames from the bottom up – in the right corner of the room, pressed against the wall and below the window. The walls were a light champagne color while the carpet and drapes were ebony. There was a small oak desk on the wall opposite of the bed and next to a simple yet tall bookshelf. At the foot of the bed was a dark oak cabinet that held each of his new clothes.

Sabo's room was simple yet elegant in its own way. The walls were a light beige with faded calligraphy on them while the floor was made of oak planks. His queen sized bed was under the window on the far left corner with navy blue sheets. In the center of the opposite wall was a large mahogany desk with multiple shelves that held all of his travel logs, extra paper, a few empty books, and various pens. On both sides of the desk were two large book shelves with books lining the top two rows of the six row bookshelves. At the foot of his bed, much like Ace's room, was a dark oak cabinet with a few hats lined up on top of it.

Luffy's room didn't change much. He bought a queen sized bed but put it in the center of his room against the back wall, much like his last bed. The sheets were red while the floor was oak planks, the walls were sea blue and the ceiling was a dark blue with little white dots – appearing to be stars of the night sky in the middle of the ocean. He had a tall wooden closet that held his jackets and delicate shirts next to his cabinet which held the rest of his clothes. On the opposite wall was his desk, which was a perfect copy of Sabo's, along with two book shelves pressed together to the right of the desk.

Even with the new rooms, Ace usually ended up falling asleep in the living room, which was basically just a large TV, a couch, a coffee table, and a doorway to their patio which had a small table and four chairs. Whenever he was asked why he slept on the couch, Ace always shrugged. In reality, he slept on the couch because it was the center of the conjoined apartments. He always thought, if something were to happen, he would hear it better from the living room rather than his own room. Slowly but surely, Sabo, Luffy, and even Marco, who would visit after work, figured out the real reason.

-x-x-x-

When Luffy woke up, he immediately smelled breakfast. He got out of bed and walked over to the kitchen. As soon as he entered the living room, he saw Ace's boots next to the couch and his feet on the arm rest, causing Luffy to roll his eyes and smile. He walked into the kitchen and sat on one of the bar stools that circled the island in the center of the kitchen. He watched Sabo run around him as he tried to cook multiple things at once.

The humanoid wolf always moved extremely fast, but, after the first week, Luffy was able to keep up with Sabo and could always see what the blond was doing. Ace, being far faster, was a slightly different story. After the first two weeks, Luffy was finally able to keep up and see where Ace was but he was still a blur at times. During the third week, Luffy found out Ace was going easy on him and moving slowly. He told the vampire to move his fastest, but it looked like he never moved. Ace told him he had gone to Marco's house on the other side of town, messed with his hair, then came back. Not a second later, Marco was on the phone and yelling at Ace.

Luffy was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard a small chuckle and felt someone poke his shoulder. He looked up to see Sabo smiling at him causing him to smile back. "Morning Sabo."

"Morning Lu. Can you wake up Ace? He got in late last night and I prefer he eat something." Sabo asked.

"Sure." Luffy said before standing up. "Actually Sabo, have you noticed he's been getting back later and later? For the past week, he's been getting in about a half hour later than the day before. And he isn't even just appearing out of nowhere. He's stumbling in while holding his head, even his throat or stomach."

Sabo froze for a few moments before turning to Luffy with a dead serious expression. "You've seen this every day for the past week?"

"Yeah. What's wrong?" Luffy asked, almost scared by how serious Sabo was suddenly.

"Have you been waiting for him to get home?" Sabo questioned, ignoring his burning eggs.

"Y-yeah… I can't sleep without knowing you're both safe. I get worried and end up staying awake." Luffy stated.

Sabo sighed. "Luffy. You know Ace can take care of himself. He's strong and you know it. You need to stop worrying and start going to sleep at a decent hour. Marco said you're grades have been going down, only a little bit but still. He also said you haven't been paying attention and even falling asleep."

"I know… But I can't help it. Ace getting home late is worrying me to where I can't sleep and end up falling asleep during class." Luffy explained.

Sabo took a deep breath and rubbed his forehead, already feeling a small headache. "We'll continue this later with both Marco and Ace. We'll see if we can get Ace to come home sooner and if Marco can get you some extra credit. For now, I need to make breakfast and you need to wake up Ace."

"Alright. Thanks Sabo." Luffy said with a grin.

"By the way, how's your cheek doing?" Sabo asked as he threw away the burnt eggs.

"It's fine. No pain at all." Luffy said before poking his stitches to prove his point.

"Good to hear." Sabo said with a smile before going back to cooking.

After watching Sabo break a few eggs, Luffy walked into the living room and to the couch. When he saw Ace's face, he grew worried. Ace was usually calm and nearly dead looking when asleep, but he wasn't now. Instead of calm, Ace looked like he was in pain. His face was twisted in pain, his hands were gripping his stomach and throat, and his fangs were extending into his bottom lip.

"A-Ace… Y-you have to wake up…" Luffy called, unconsciously stuttering.

After a few moments, Luffy reached out to put his hand on Ace's shoulder. Expecting to feel ice cold skin, Luffy was shocked to feel how warm he was. Not even a second later, Luffy was forced to pull his hand away due to the heat. "Sabo!"

Within seconds, Sabo was standing next to Luffy with worry. "What's wrong?"

"I-it's Ace… He isn't ice cold like usual. He feels like he's on fire." Luffy stated with fear in his eyes and voice.

"Alright." Sabo said before running back to the kitchen and returning with a pitcher of water. "You might want to back away. If this is what I think it is, there's a chance you'll get hurt."

Luffy nodded before backing away a few feet. When he was positive Luffy was far enough, Sabo took a deep breath and poured the pitcher on Ace. Instantly, steam arose from Ace along with a loud gasp. When the steam faded, Luffy could see Ace pinning Sabo to the ground. The whites of Ace's eyes had turned obsidian and the iris' had turned into a glowing crimson while his fangs and nails grew longer and sharper. Ace's hair was covering a majority of his eyes but Luffy could tell his pupils were quivering.

"Ace…" Luffy unconsciously whispered in shock.

Upon hearing his name, Ace's attention was drawn to Luffy. Slowly, he let go of Sabo and stood up, causing Luffy to take an unconscious step back. When Ace saw this, he couldn't help but smirk, causing his fangs to show more and for him to appear more menacing. Just as Ace had taken a step towards Luffy, Sabo had grabbed his arm and had thrown him to the opposite side of the room yet landed perfectly on his feet.

For a few moments, Ace and Sabo glared at each other. Luffy looked between the two of them and realized Sabo was different as well. The whites of Sabo's eyes had turned obsidian much like Ace's but the iris' were now a burning gold. When he heard low growling, Luffy realized Sabo's teeth were getting sharper, his ears were standing straight up, his nails had grown and sharpened, and his tail was standing straight up.

Suddenly, both brothers had vanished and the sounds of a fight could be heard but nothing could be seen. As if out of thin air, small scratches started appearing on Luffy's arms. When a small gash appeared on his left arm, Luffy instinctually moved his right hand to cover it, leaving his right side open for another small gash.

When both brothers stopped moving and could be seen again, Luffy noticed there wasn't a single scratch on either of them. The only things different were the slightly messy hair and the increase of anger in their expressions.

After a few seconds, Luffy snapped out of his shock. "Ace! Sabo! Stop it! You shouldn't be fighting like this!"

When Ace heard the fear, sadness, and pain in the teen's voice, he regained some of his own consciousness and looked at Luffy. Taking this as his chance, Sabo ran at Ace and threw a strong punch to the vampire's cheek, sending him to the floor a few feet away.

Ace didn't move an inch. He knew what happened and what it meant, but that didn't mean he liked it. He hated the hunger as much as he hated the ones who killed his little brother. He hated it as much as he hated Teach or the Marines. But unlike then, there was nothing he could do about it. All he could do was curse the one who turned him.

When Ace finally rolled onto his back, Sabo took it as a sign to check up on him. As soon as Sabo took his first step, his nails, teeth, and eyes returned to normal while his tail and ears slacked. When he finally got to Ace's side, he kneeled down and looked the vampire in the eyes. "You know what this means." Sabo whispered as Ace put an arm over his eyes and clenched the clothing on his stomach with the other hand.

"As if the pain wasn't warning enough…" Ace whispered.

"How bad is it this time?" Sabo asked.

"Pretty bad…" Ace muttered.

"Akainu fists. How many?" Sabo questioned only to see Ace fully open the fist above his eyes. "Five?" Ace shook his hand slightly before putting down all his fingers except one. "Six?" When Ace's hand went slack, Sabo knew that was the answer. "Damn… The worst you've ever gotten in a low five… How much of a six?" When Ace made a somewhat tightened fist, Sabo was surprised. "Straight up six… No low, no high…"

"A-Ace…?" Luffy whispered as he slowly walked over.

When he heard Luffy's voice, Ace moved his arm and looked at the human next to him before showing a small smile. "Hey Lu…"

"A-are you okay?" Luffy asked as he kneeled down next to Ace and in front of Sabo.

"He's fine. Just a little hungry." Sabo said.

"How hungry? If it helps then I'll make breakfast. Sabo can take care of you for a little bit and I'll cook." Luffy asked worriedly.

"Thanks Lu, but I don't think it'll help…" Ace muttered.

"Why? I wanna help you." Luffy said.

Ace sighed before smiling a little more. "Alright. But I want extra bacon."

"Okay!" Luffy said happily before running to the kitchen.

"Any plans?" Ace whispered to Sabo.

"Get home late tonight. Later than you have. He'll fall asleep, I'll take him to his room before you get back, and you go straight to your room. We can lock you in your room if you think it's that bad." Sabo suggested.

"That'll work." Ace muttered before standing up.

"And Ace." Sabo called. "He knows you've been getting back a half hour later each day. Get back at least an hour later. Maybe more."

"Got it." Ace said before going into the kitchen.

'_Why do I feel like something bad is going to happen?_' Sabo thought to himself before following Ace.

-x-x-x-

When Ace got back home, he was two hours later than Luffy expected. Ace was surprised when he saw the young raven still awake and waiting for him on the couch. He walked over to the younger but stopped half way when he smelled the small traces of blood from his wounds.

"Hey Ace. What took you so long?" Luffy asked as he stood up and walked over to Ace.

Slowly, Ace started to back away until his back hit the wall. "L-Luffy…" Ace muttered, feeling his mouth water slightly.

"What?" Luffy asked with a slightly hurt tone as he stopped walking.

"W-what are you doing up this late? I thought you'd be asleep…" Ace asked.

"About an hour ago, I heard Sabo moving around and pretended to be asleep. He took me to my room then went back to bed. About ten minutes later I came back out." Luffy explained.

"Y-you need sleep… Go to bed Lu…" Ace stuttered slightly.

"You're acting weird. Are you okay?" Luffy asked as he took another step forward.

"S-stay away alright? I-I'm not really feeling like myself…" Ace said with a small smile, ignoring the small pain from his fangs stabbing into his bottom lip.

"Then let me help you to your room at least. Maybe if you get some rest you'll be better?" Luffy suggested as he took a careful step forward.

"M-maybe…" Ace said while looking down.

When Ace looked up again, the first thing he saw was Luffy's smiling face. He remembered not seeing that smile for over a week. He was always out late and when he was near the boy, he couldn't look at him. He felt ashamed of himself every time he walked by Luffy and smelled only the boy's blood or heard only the boy's heartbeat and blood rushing through his veins.

When he was finally brought back to reality, he felt something warm and soft in his hand. He looked at his hand only to see Luffy's hand holding it. Ace saw small scratches on the boys arm and he slowly started looking over the boy. He wasn't sure if he was looking for wounds that were threatening to the boy or if he was looking for a spot to get a midnight snack. He really hoped it was the first one.

Ace's eyes widened and darkened slightly when he saw the small gash on Luffy's left arm and the slightly larger gash on the boy's right side. Immediately he stopped walking and held Luffy still before gently running his thumb over the cut on the boy's arm. "What happened?"

"When you and Sabo were fighting, they appeared. I don't know who did it but it doesn't hurt now." Luffy said with a small smile but his eyes said differently.

"It's still bleeding slightly. Are you sure it doesn't hurt?" Ace asked worriedly.

"I'm fine Ace. Right now we need to worry about you." Luffy stated calmly yet seriously.

Ace chose not to say a word but instead nodded in agreement. After a few moments, a sweet scent wafted through his nose. '_Honey? But… why does it smell so close? And why does it smell like it's on my hand?_' Ace thought to himself before looking at his fingers. His eyes widened when he saw a crimson liquid on his thumb.

Secretly, he looked at Luffy and saw the boys arm was bleeding again. Unconsciously, he licked his lips and imagined the taste of the boy's blood. When he could practically feel the liquid rushing onto his tongue and down his throat, he lost control.

Within seconds, Luffy was pinned against the wall with his hands above his head and Ace's eyes were crimson and obsidian. When Luffy opened his eyes – having closed them when he hit the wall – all he saw was the thug from that night a month prior. Immediately, his entire body was stiff as he remembered the pain from the stab and the disgusting feeling of that man's lips on his neck.

As Ace moved in closer and closer to Luffy's neck, the younger could feel the brick wall from that night behind him and tried to move away only to have a hand placed on his shoulder to stop him. Preparing himself for the grotesque feeling, he tightly shut his eyes. "Ace… Sabo… Help me…" he unconsciously whispered.

As Luffy whispered his plea, Ace stopped barely an inch away from his neck. When he didn't feel anything on his neck, Luffy opened his eyes only to see a panicked Ace. Just as he was about to say his thanks, Ace took a few steps back while letting go of the boy. Quickly, Luffy realized what had truly happened and why Ace looked so terrified. "Ace…" he whispered before said vampire ran off to his room.

Soon, Luffy snapped out of the shock and ran around the corner to Ace's room. When he tried to open the door, he noticed it was locked tight causing him to sigh. "Ace… Let me in. Please."

"No. I don't want to hurt you ever again. I never want to see you that terrified anymore… Especially because of me…" Ace muttered from the other side of the door.

"It wasn't your fault. If I had known it was you-"

"Wait. What? What do you mean if you had known?" Ace questioned, cutting off Luffy.

Luffy sighed and looked at the ground. "How you held me… It was the same as that thug…"

"Damn it… I'm sorry Luffy… I really am…" Ace muttered sadly and somewhat angrily.

"It wasn't your fault. You weren't in control." Luffy stated while skimming the hallway for something to open the door with.

"Exactly. I wasn't in control and could have hurt you." Ace said.

"But you didn't and you wouldn't. It wasn't on purpose." Luffy said as he picked up two loose nails. He coated his finger tips with Armament Haki and pressed on the ends of the nails, flattening them. Carefully, he bent the first one in half, making a ninety degree angle, and bent the tip of the second about five times. Slowly, he kneeled down and slid both nails into the lock and picked it. Once he heard the lock click, he stood and opened the door.

When he entered the room, Luffy found Ace sitting in the corner, holding his knees to his chest and burying his face in his knees. Slowly and quietly, Luffy closed the door behind him and took a few steps towards Ace.

"I locked that for a reason." Ace muttered.

"I unlocked it for a reason." Luffy stated.

"Get out… I'll end up hurting you and I'll regret it. I made a promise that I would never regret anything." Ace mumbled.

"I'm sure you've broken that promise at least once." Luffy said with a small smirk as he rolled up one of his sleeves.

"All of my regrets are stupid and meaningless. All except for my little brother's death. Please don't make me add 'you getting hurt' to that list…" Ace pleaded.

"You're worried you'll hurt me because you're hungry, right? I still don't like anything near my neck but my wrist should still work." Luffy said as he held out his wrist towards Ace.

Ace looked up at him in surprise. "W-what…? N-no. I can't."

"Do it or else I force you. You're in pain and you shouldn't be. I told you earlier, I'll do anything to help you." Luffy stated.

"Why? Why aren't you scared or worried?" Ace questioned.

"Why should I be? I trust you. Plus, if you were this scared of hurting me, I don't think you would actually kill me. Now take it." Luffy said with a trusting smile.

Slowly, Ace moved to face Luffy and gently grabbed the teen's wrist. Unconsciously, he licked his lips before his fangs grew and his eyes darkened again. Without a second thought, he bit into Luffy's wrist, emitting a small wince from the teen.

Ace immediately felt the sweet liquid on his tongue and was surprised with the taste. It was sweeter than he imagined but not too sweet. The feeling he had when the liquid ran down his throat was almost as good as the taste. The sound of the teen's heartbeat slightly speeding up was like music to his ears. He couldn't help but want more. It was like ecstasy.

But with every positive, comes a negative. Other than the fact that he was hurting somebody, there was one part he hated most. He hated seeing the memories of the person he was drinking from. He always tried to pull away before he could see anything but he always caught a glimpse of something.

He was so focused on the taste and feel that he couldn't pull away in time. His eyes shot open when he saw two young and beautiful women; one with white hair and the other with black hair. The two women looked almost exactly alike, most likely mother and daughter. But what bothered Ace the most was the fact that he had seen them before.

Slowly and carefully, he pulled Luffy's wrist away from his mouth. When he looked at the teen, all he saw was the same simple and calm smile that he had gotten from the white haired woman that night. '_They're related… She was his mother…_'

As he came back to reality, Ace noticed how tired Luffy really was. He smiled slightly before grabbing the teen up in his arms and taking him to his room. When he laid Luffy into his bed, he saw a picture on the night stand. He looked at the photo and saw the two women on both sides of Luffy.

"It's my mom and sister. The one on the right is my mom, Olivia, and the one on the left is my sister, Robin. They died in a car accident. My sister's body was never found but they're sure she's gone." Luffy said sleepily as he rolled onto his side and stared at the picture.

"I know I've said it before but, I'm sorry." Ace whispered.

"Don't apologize. There was nothing you could do." Luffy said with a slight slur.

"Get some rest Lu… I'll see you in the morning." Ace said before walking out of the room and closing the door behind him.

Silently, Ace walked to his room and closed the door behind him. He sat on his bed before a thought ran through his mind. '_That's a lie… I could have saved both of them…_'

**(Aaaaaaaand done! At the beginning of the chapter, a small thought ran through my mind but I didn't have room for it in the chapter itself and I didn't want to get rid of it either. So here's a little omake for those who want a little laugh.**

**Omake:**

Ace and Sabo: *walking to Marco's class to get Luffy*

Ace: So… Why are we picking him up from his classroom?

Sabo: Because the school said we had to.

Ace: That's stupid.

Sabo: *looks at all the room numbers* Hey. What was the room number we needed?

Ace: I don't know. I've been following you. *stops walking*

Sabo: *stops walking* And I've been following you! *looks at the door next to them* 214?

Ace: Let's try it. *opens the door* Excuse me-

Sabo: Ace? What is it? *sees a tall man with a crescent moon mustache* Whitebeard?

Whitebeard: Can I help you boys?

Ace: *frozen in place*

Sabo: *sighs* Yes please. We're trying to find Marco's class. Do you know where that is?

Whitebeard: He's right down the hall and on this same side.

Sabo: Thank you. *sees Ace is still frozen, sighs and drags him out before closing the door*

Ace: *unfreezes and opens the next door*

Sabo: *eyes widen when he sees Dragon*

Dragon: Can I-

Sabo: *slams the door shut*

Ace: I'm surprised you didn't freeze up.

Sabo: I'm not you. *opens the next door only to get hit by a person being thrown*

Ace: What the hell!? *gets hit in the head* Ow! What the fuck! *looks up and sees Garp, his eyes widen*

Garp: No cursing and no shouting! Damn brats… *slams his door shut*

Sabo: *laying on the ground with an unconscious kid on top of him* But you just did both…

Ace: *gets the kid off Sabo and looks at the room number* 210… That is officially a cursed number...

Sabo: *gets up* Agreed. *cracks his back* One more before we wait for him outside the school.

Ace: Agreed. *looks at the next room* 208… This better be it. *slowly opens the door and sees a pineapple* Pineapple?

Marco: *throws a book at Ace's face*

Class: *tries not to laugh*

Sabo: *sighs* Oi Lu. Pack it up.

Luffy: 'Kay! *grabs his bag and starts putting things in it*

Ace: Hurry! I've been attacked twice within the past ten feet and I want to get out of here!

Marco: *whispers to Sabo* What is he talking about, yoi?

Sabo: *whispers* We met Garp… *rubs his back* He's still strong as hell…

Ace: Luffy!

Luffy: Coming! *grabs the last book and runs out the door*

Sabo: See ya later Marco. *walks out the door*

Ace: Bye-bye Pineapple head~! *closes the door before the second book hits him*

Class: *breaks out into laughter*

Marco:*tick mark* I'm gonna kill him, yoi...

**So what did you think? I wanted to add them in but didn't know how and didn't have any nearby chapters where they could be put in. Last option: Omake. Also, 210 actually is a cursed number for me. If you pay attention to any of the numbers I end up using, they're either 5's or 210. This being because I like the number 5 and the number 210 just happens to be everywhere. If anyone else has a number that seems to follow them, please tell me. So far it's only me and my dad…**

**I actually thought of this chapter and the next about two weeks ago, maybe more. Didn't know if I should actually put it in but, eventually, it became a bridge between parts. Sorry for not having any Marco in the chapter. Trust me! There will most likely be a lot of your favorite Pineapple in the next chapter. I'll try to get it out soon but there are no promises. Let me repeat that. NO PROMISES! Also, with the whole haki and memory seeing thing, if it's true: "Awesome!" If it isn't true: "Shut up. I can have haki more advanced and make vampires see memories if I want to!" So as usual. Fave, follow, read my other stuff, vote (there's a new choice), and review! Bai~! c(X )**

**Start time – 8:30 AM (Wednesday)**

**End time – 10:40 PM (Thursday)**


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